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8th December 2023
04:32pm GMT
For some it's like magic, they're pregnant just as they planned to begin their journey, while for others it can take a lot more effort and organisation to get to parenthood.
Now a new study has found that 90% of people trying to have a baby are actually deficient in a number of essential vitamins that are required to support a healthy pregnancy.
Researchers found that as vegetarian and vegan diets continue to gain popularity, this issue is likely to worsen.
Tests on more than 1,700 women in the UK, New Zealand and Singapore who planned to conceive revealed that most were lacking nutrients found in abundance in meat and dairy products, many of which are crucial for healthy foetal development.
Epidemiologist and lead author of the study at the University of Southampton, Prof Keith Godfrey, admitted that he was surprised by the findings.
Speaking to The Guardian he said: "We were surprised at how common low or marginal status was for these micronutrients.
"For the individual, the simple answer is that unless you’re following a really high-quality diet, you may need to consider taking a supplement."
Women aged between 18-38 were part of the 'Nipper' Study, which tested how different combinations of nutrients and probiotics aided mother and baby's health before and during their pregnancy.
The level of nutrients in the blood was measured when women joined the study and then they were randomly assigned a standard vitamin for pregnant women or an enhanced one that had additional riboflavin, vitamins B6, B12 and D, probiotics, zinc and a form of sugar called myo-inositol.
According to the report in Plos Medicine, before conceiving, nine out of 10 women had marginal or low levels of folate, riboflavin, vitamin B12 or vitamin D, while many showed signs of vitamin B6 deficiency in late pregnancy.
Though the assigned pregnancy vitamins did help increase levels, they didn't always reach a sufficient amount.
Prof Godfrey said that more work needs to be done to identify the ideal quantities of each nutrient but that most over-the-counter vitamins will have enough of an impact to prevent deficiency.
Co-author of the paper Prof Wayne Cutfield also said that the standard recommendation of folic acid and vitamin D supplements should be accompanied by a multivitamin.
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