Research paper
The effects of maternal and infant vitamin A supplementation on vitamin A status: a randomised trial in Kenya
Study answer
What this study found
Maternal vitamin A did not meaningfully improve maternal serum retinol, but it modestly increased breast milk retinol; infant vitamin A improved infant vitamin A stores by MRDR, yet did not increase infant serum retinol, and combining maternal plus infant supplementation did not show a clear added benefit. In mothers, the serum retinol difference for vitamin A versus placebo was 0.04 (95% CI 0.01 to 0.09; P=0.13) at week 14 postpartum and -0.02 (95% CI -0.08 to 0.04; P=0.50) at week 26 postpartum. Infant supplementation reduced MRDR ratios by -0.012 (95% CI -0.019 to -0.005) and lowered the…
- Study & population
- Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled 2x2 factorial trial in postpartum mother-infant pairs from rural western Kenya (Bondo District, Lake Victoria shore).
- Intervention
- Mothers in the active arms received 400,000 IU vitamin A orally as two 200,000 IU oily capsules within 24 hours postpartum.
- Key limitation
- The main findings rely on surrogate biomarkers rather than clinical deficiency outcomes or morbidity benefits.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
Postpartum vitamin A supplementation of mothers and infants is recommended, but the efficacy has been questioned. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, Kenyan mother–infant pairs were randomised to maternal vitamin A (400 000 IU) or placebo…