This study assesses the effects of prenatal supplementation with United Nations International Multiple Micronutrient Antenatal Preparation (UNIMMAP) compared with iron folic acid (IFA) on average birthweight and incidence of low birthweight. Pregnant women from 78 villages in Niger were included in a cluster-randomized, double-blinded, controlled supplementation trial. Data suggest that prenatal supplementation with multiple micronutrients as part of a prenatal care package in addition to interventions to promote improved maternal prepregnancy nutrition status is an important strategy to increase birthweight and reduce the incidence of low birthweight.

The study is a factorial, double-blind, randomized controlled trial, with directly observed supplement intake. Pregnant women were randomly assigned to receive either iron folid acid (IFA) or United Nations International Multiple Micronutrient Antenatal Preparation (UNIMMAP) daily until 3 months after delivery. The primary outcomes examined were gestational duration, birth weight, birth length, and Rohrer ponderal index at birth [weight (g) × 100/length3 (cm)]. Secondary outcomes were low birth weight (LBW) (<2500 g), small-for-gestational age (SGA; birth weight below the 10th percentile of a reference population) (36), large for gestational age (LGA; birth weight above the 90th percentile of the study population), thoracic circumference, head circumference, mid-upper arm circumference, hemoglobin concentration in mothers during the third trimester, hemoglobin and sTfR concentrations in cord blood, preterm birth (born at <37 wk of gestation), stillbirth (delivery of an infant showing no sign of life after a gestational age of 28 wk), and perinatal death.

A randomised, controlled, double masked trial to assess the effects of daily prenatal multimicronutrient supplementation on birth weight (BW) and perinatal mortality in Guinea-Bissau. A total of 2100 pregnant women  were recruited through antenatal clinics, of which 1670 completed the trial. The results showed that prenatal micronutrient supplementation increased BW but did not reduce perinatal mortality in this study. Multimicronutrient supplementation with two recommended dietary allowance (RDA) should be considered in future programmes to reduce the proportion of low BW.

This article details a double-blind, randomised controlled trial in Dhanusha district, Nepal. Women attending for antenatal care with singleton pregnancies at up to 20 weeks’ gestation were invited to participate. Primary outcomes were birthweight and gestational duration. Secondary outcomes included infant length and head circumference. The study was not powered to detect differences in mortality.

This systematic review of randomized controlled trials evaluates the evidence of the impact of multiple micronutrient supplements during pregnancy, in comparison with standard iron-folate supplements, on specific maternal and pregnancy outcomes of relevance to the Lives Saved Tool (LiST).

Kirk Humanitarian puts forth that action must be taken now to ramp up global production while ensuring that manufacturers can produce high-quality multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) at an affordable price. Efforts are also needed to create a strong global market for MMS based on competition among high-quality manufacturers, and to monitor the supply chain to ensure that quality is maintained, environmental impact is minimized and supplies are readily available as MMS is scaled to national coverage.

Eleanor Crook Foundation outlines where it is concentrating its philanthropic contributions for scaling up multiple micronutrients supplementation (MMS). The Eleanor Crook Foundation intends to strategically invest in three main areas to support MMS scaling: (1) implementation to enhance MMS delivery at scale in key East African countries; (2) research on demand creation for MMS using creative solutions; and (3) country-level advocacy for inclusion of MMS delivery as the antenatal standard of care in national guidelines. 

In this article, the author outlines the need and the opportunity for better delivery integration of the elements critical for success for the first 1,000 days. Elements include a nutritionally adequate diet, MMS, breastfeeding, complementary feeding and nurturing care, which are often separate at the policy and intervention areas.

This article outlines the need for and the creation of an open-access MMS product specification, based on the United Nations International Multiple Micronutrient Antenatal Preparation (UNIMMAP) formulation. Open-access formulations are important for public health programs.

This mini-guide to creating demand for multiple micronutrient supplementation (MMS) offers concrete steps to effectively approach public health marketing. It focuses on three main phases of developing and implementing a demand creation strategy for MMS: getting started, project implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.