Maternal nutrition during pregnancy as it affects infant growth, development and health.

Strong epidemiological evidence exists of an association between maternal nutritional status during and before pregnancy and birthweight and intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). Trials of nutritional supplementation during pregnancy have however found only a modest effect of supplementation on birthweight even in undernourished women. One study even found no long-term benefit to children in terms of growth or neurocognitive development. Since it is not clear whether the supplementation trials were conducted at the right time during pregnancy future supplementation during pregnancy should probably be targeted at nutritionally disadvantaged populations during all three trimesters of pregnancy. Distinguishing between IUGR and prematurity and between stunted and wasted IUGR infants would be helpful in future trials. More research is also needed on the effect of maternal nutrition during pregnancy on preterm delivery and during consecutive pregnancies and prior to pregnancy.