Vitamin Supplementation in Pregnancy

THE AIM of the study was to investigate the extent and determinants of vitamin supplementation in early pregnancy.Some 246 women were recruited in the antenatal clinics of a major teaching hospital and asked to com plete a brief questionnaire relating to sources of advice and details of diet and vitamin supplementation during the index pregnancy. Further information was abstracted from routine antenatal records. A total of fifty-seven women (23%) took some form of vitamin supplement during the index pregnancy. Factors which affected supplementation included advice received from diverse sources and whether or not the women took iron supplements. Somewhat surprisingly, supplementation was not affected by age, social class or reproductive history.