Offspring whose mothers had been supplemented with Iron and Folic acid during pregnancy had dramatically reduced mortality through age 7.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that other supplement combinations, including the multiple micronutrient supplement, did not confer the same benefit. Nearly 40 percent of pregnant women worldwide are estimated to be anemic. Although there is an international policy for antenatal Iron and Folic acid supplementation, coverage and use of this antenatal intervention is low in many developing countries.
The results are published in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

Researchers examined the long-term impact of micronutrient supplementation on childhood survival, growth, and early markers of chronic disease among the offspring of women who received micronutrient supplementation. The study is a follow-up to a 1999 to 2001 randomized, double-masked trial of the administration of micronutrients during pregnancy to women in the rural southern plains district of Sarlahi, Nepal. At the time the team examined Folic acid; Folic acid and Iron; Folic acid, Iron and Zinc, as well as a multiple micronutrients that contained the foregoing plus 11 other micronutrients.
Vitamin A alone was provided in the control group and each of the four supplement groups also contained vitamin A.
They found that Iron and Folic acid supplementation relative to the control significantly reduced the prevalence of low birth weight by 16 percent and the prevalence of maternal anemia during pregnancy and the postpartum period by 50 percent.

Supplementation with Iron and Folic acid during pregnancy is a common policy in many low- and middle-income countries. This policy has been motivated primarily by the beneficial effects of supplementation on anemia in pregnancy and maternal iron stores. Following their previous demonstration that Iron-Folic acid supplementation during pregnancy increased birth weight.

Source: Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 2009

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