A new meta-analysis from 14 randomized controlled trials, representing 42,618 participants, found that multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS) and small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplementation (SQ-LNS, which combine vitamins with macronutrients) in pregnant women helped to reduce the risk of giving birth to small, vulnerable newborns to varying extents. The report was published in The Lancet.

In the meta-analysis by George Mason University associate professor and lead author Dongqing Wang, Wang sought to identify the benefits of prenatal supplements that reduce health risks to small and vulnerable babies.

Comparatively, pregnant women who took MMS had a 27% lower risk of giving birth to babies who suffered from preterm birth, low birth weight, and small-for-gestational-age birth, compared to interventions that only contained folic acid and iron, the latter of which was common protocol for prenatal health since the 1970s. Relatively, SQ-LNS resulted in a 22% relative risk reduction. This highlighted the importance of comprehensive nutritional intake that went beyond the basics.

Prior to this study, prenatal supplementation research treated preterm births, small-for-gestational-age births, and low birthweight births as three separate constructs, and this review is the first of its kind to examine the combined effects of dietary supplements on all three, Wang reported.

“In conclusion, prenatal MMS and SQ-LNS reduce the risk of small vulnerable newborn types to varying extents. The protective effects are particularly substantial for small vulnerable newborn types conferring the greatest risk of neonatal mortality,” the authors concluded.