In a new study, lead researcher Dongqing Wang, an assistant professor of Global and Community Health at George Mason College of Public Health (Virginia), identifies prenatal supplements that reduce health risks to small and vulnerable babies.

Wang and his team found that compared to folic acid and iron alone, a multiple micronutrient supplement led to a 27 percent lower risk of giving birth to “small vulnerable newborn types,” or babies who suffered from preterm birth, low birthweight, and small-for-gestational-age birth—the three groups most likely to result in infant mortality.

Wang commented, “This work is the first to examine the effects of prenatal multiple micronutrient supplements and small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements on the emerging outcomes of small vulnerable newborns.”

In the past, these birth outcomes were all treated as separate conditions. Low birthweight, for example, can occur because of a short pregnancy, and growth restrictions can lead to babies born too small for their developmental age.

“Small vulnerable newborn types may have distinct mechanisms, health impacts, and intervention strategies,” said Wang.

Folic acid and iron have been used to support prenatal health since the 1970s.

Wang explored the effects of two additional types of prenatal supplements on women in low- and middle-income countries: prenatal multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS), similar to a common multivitamin, and small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS), which provide caloric nutrition and fatty acids in addition to vitamins.

He found that nearly all these vitamins conferred some type of benefit, and some of them were highly beneficial. “This study underscores the important promise of nutritional supplements in prenatal care in low- and middle-income countries,” he asserted. “In particular, the protective effects of prenatal multiple micronutrients on most small vulnerable newborn types, particularly those with the greatest mortality risk, strongly supports switching from iron and folic acid supplements to MMS as the standard care.”

Looking at 16 different studies, Wang analyzed how prenatal nutrition correlates to the occurrence of small vulnerable newborns. He believes that the right prenatal supplements can help mitigate them. Since more than 90 percent of pregnancies resulting in low birthweight occur in low- and middle-income countries, including those in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, Wang focused this work on those regions.

Reference:

Wang D, et al. The effects of prenatal multiple micronutrient supplementation and small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplementation on small vulnerable newborn types in low-income and middle-income countries: a meta-analysis of individual participant data. The Lancet Global Health, 2025; 13 (2): e298 DOI: 10.1016/S2214-109X(24)00449-2.

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