Infant Survival Sees Increase with Mothers Who Took Folic Acid, Iron
Lee Swanson Research Update
Taking folic acid and iron supplements during pregnancy may reduce infant mortality up to age 7, suggests research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In fact, researchers report as much as a 31% reduction in infant mortality.
Furthermore, the supplements reduced the prevalence of low birth weight by 16% and the prevalence of maternal anemia during pregnancy and after the birth period by 50%.
"To our knowledge this is the first time the long-term effects of maternal iron-folic acid supplementation on childhood survival have been examined," said lead researcher P. Christian.
"A reduction in mortality resulting from an intervention, such as iron-folic acid supplementation during pregnancy, provides a new and previously unreported evidence of benefit to offspring during childhood," added Christian.
Almost 5,000 pregnant women in rural Nepal were recruited to take part in the randomized, double-blind, controlled trial. Women were divided into five groups. One group received folic acid only; the second group received folic acid, plus iron; the third received folic acid, plus iron, plus zinc; the fourth received multiple micronutrients; and the final group received vitamin A and acted as the control group.
Of the 4,130 babies born alive, 209 died in the first three months and eight were lost to follow-up. Of the 3,913 remaining, the researchers report that 150 died between the ages of three months and seven years, while 152 were lost to follow-up.
Children of mothers receiving the folic acid, plus iron supplements had the lowest mortality rate of 10.3 per 1,000 child-years from birth to age seven years, compared to 13.4, 12.0, 14.0 and 15.2 for the folic acid, folic acid, plus iron, plus zinc; multiple micronutrients and control groups, respectively.
"In a setting where maternal iron deficiency and anemia are common, we found a 31% reduction in childhood mortality due to maternal antenatal and postnatal supplementation with iron-folic acid compared to a control," Christian said.
The researchers concluded that such results provide additional motivation to increase global programs for antenatal iron and folic acid supplementation.
American Journal of Epidemiology 170(9):1127-1136, 200