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New Guidance from the MMS TAG

20 January 2025 – The Multiple Micronutrient Supplementation in Pregnancy Technical Advisory Group (MMS TAG), hosted by the Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Consortium (HMHB) has released new guidance on MMS. This resource is meant to provide decision-makers with expert guidance from the global MMS Technical Advisory Group (MMS TAG) on interpreting the inclusion of breastfeeding women in the United Nations International Multiple Micronutrient Antenatal Preparation (UNIMMAP) MMS product label, ensuring informed decisions on the postpartum use of antenatal MMS. This social media toolkit can be used to disseminate this important resource.

READ THE GUIDANCE

The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a context-specific recommendation for MMS use in pregnancy, and the UNIMMAP MMS formulation is listed in the WHO Essential Medicines List. National governments are increasing the introduction and scale-up of MMS within antenatal care. Implementers are raising the issue of using leftover MMS tablets, if any, after delivery while breastfeeding. To answer this question, the Global MMS TAG developed the current guidance.

Evidence from trials suggests benefits of providing MMS during breastfeeding, given its potential to influence breastmilk micronutrient composition, infant growth, maternal cognition, and maternal and infant micronutrient status. The presumed postpartum benefit of MMS is biologically plausible and MMS is likely to be a safe and valuable addition to a mother’s postpartum diet and, consequently, for the breastfed baby. Recognizing the postpartum period as an opportunity to restore maternal nutrition reserves after childbirth, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) guidance supports the continued use of MMS postpartum. While pregnant women should be the primary target for receiving MMS in national antenatal care services, if MMS tablets remain after delivery of the baby, women may use remaining MMS tablets postpartum.