Vitamins and Perinatal Outcomes among HIV-Negative Women in Tanzania

Study answer

What this study found

Prenatal multivitamin supplementation improved fetal growth outcomes but did not meaningfully reduce prematurity or fetal death. Mean birth weight was 3148 g versus 3083 g, a 67 g increase (P<0.001), and low birth weight <2500 g was reduced from 9.4% to 7.8% (RR 0.82, 0.70 to 0.95; P=0.01). Small-for-gestational-age births were also lower at 10.7% versus 13.6% (RR 0.77, 0.68 to 0.87; P<0.001). Preterm birth <37 weeks was unchanged (16.9% vs 16.7%; RR 1.01, 0.91 to 1.11; P=0.87) and fetal death was not significantly different (4.3% vs 5.0%; RR 0.87, 0.72 to 1.05; P=0.15). Maternal anemia…

Study & population

Randomized, placebo-controlled trial among HIV-negative pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Intervention

Daily oral prenatal multivitamin supplementation, taken once daily from enrollment until 6 weeks after delivery, in addition to standard prenatal iron (60 mg elemental iron daily) and folic acid (0.25 mg daily).

Key limitation

The multivitamin was added on top of routine iron and folic acid, so the specific contribution of the multivitamin components is not fully isolated.

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Original abstract