This article discusses the global evidence from high-quality, randomized trials demonstrates that daily supplementation with multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) in pregnancy compared with supplementation with iron and folic acid (IFA) alone improves birth outcomes. Two systematic reviews and meta-analyses show that MMS reduces the risk of babies being born with a low birth weight by 12–14 percent, reduces the risk of small-for-gestational age births by 3–8 percent and may reduce preterm birth by 5–7 percent. New analyses also show that MMS in pregnancy reduces the risk of mortality among female infants. All women and children were found to benefit, but the data suggests that MMS helps undernourished women especially.
