It is estimated that more than 40% of pregnant women worldwide are anaemic. At least half of this anaemia burden is assumed to be due to iron deficiency.

Pregnant women require additional iron and folic acid to meet their own nutritional needs as well as those of the developing fetus. Deficiencies in iron and folic acid during pregnancy can potentially negatively impact the health of the mother, her pregnancy, as well as fetal development.

Pregnancy also reduces a woman’s immunity, making pregnant women more susceptible to malaria infection and increasing the risk of illness, anaemia, severe disease and death. For the unborn child, maternal malaria increases the risk of spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, premature delivery and low birth weight – a leading cause of child mortality.

The use of daily iron and folic acid supplements throughout pregnancy has been the standard approach to prevent and treat iron deficiency anaemia. Despite its proven efficacy, the use of daily iron supplementation has been limited in programme settings, possibly due to a lack of compliance, concerns about the safety of the intervention among women with an adequate iron intake, and variable availability of the supplements at community level. Experience has shown that intermittent regimens may be more accepted by women, with increased adherence to supplementation programmes.