Pregnancy multivitamin use could harm babies, researchers warn

PREGNANT women who eat a balanced diet are typically forking out for unnecessary multivitamins, with some even risking harm to their child through their intake, new research shows.

PREGNANT women who eat a balanced diet are typically forking out for unnecessary multivitamins, with some even risking harm to their child from excessive intake, new research shows.

Reproductive health experts say supplement use during pregnancy should instead be determined individually, and based on consideration of her health and whether she can meet recommended nutrient intakes through diet alone.

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In a review of large scale studies into supplement use during pregnancy, Professor Claire Roberts, from the University of Adelaide’s Robinson Research Institute, found that while multivitamin use was common during pregnancy, there was a lack of data supporting widespread use.

“In some cases, supplementation with such vitamins may provide amounts of various vitamins above what is actually needed,” Prof Roberts wrote in the Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Research review. “Such supplementation may not be completely without harm.”

Multivitamin use is common during pregnancy, but University of Adelaide researchers say there is a lack of data supporting their widespread use.

Chair of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists of Australia’s Women’s and Newborn Health stream, Dr Luke Grzeskowiak said while all multivitamins marketed for pregnancy contained recommended levels of folic acid and iodine, many included “unnecessary” vitamins and minerals, or “pointlessly” low levels of nutrients, such as iron or calcium.

“Pregnant women are vulnerable to messages about giving their baby the best start to life and this should not be exploited,” Dr Grzeskowiak said.

“For women who have a particularly unhealthy diet or who struggle to eat well due to severe morning sickness, the additional nutrients may be useful; however, for the majority of women, complex multivitamin preparations represent an unnecessary added expense.”

Australia’s national guidelines recommend women who are planning pregnancy, or who are pregnant or breastfeeding, take 150 micrograms of iodine daily for foetal neurodevelopment.

Women also need a daily supplement with at least 0.4 mg of folic acid for a month before and three months after conception, to protect against neural tube defects.

Salt, breads and cereals have been fortified with folate and iodine in Australia for a decade.

Clinical geneticist Dr Debra Kennedy, who runs New South Wales’ statewide Medications in Pregnancy and Lactation Advisory Service, said there was growing concern young women were increasingly avoiding carbohydrates for non-specific health reasons — missing out on these important fortified foods — while women also mistakenly believed that the more vitamins, or the higher the dose, the better.

“There is a general perception that if something is good, then more of something good must be even better,” Dr Kennedy said. “Unfortunately, this does not always apply to vitamins, high or mega doses of which may not always be as benign as everyone would like to believe.”

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