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Dietary vitamin, mineral and herbal supplement use: a cross‐sectional survey of before and during pregnancy use in Sydney, Australia
Author(s) -
Shand Antonia W.,
Walls Mariyam,
Chatterjee Rahul,
Nassar Natasha,
Khambalia Amina Z.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of obstetrics and gynaecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.734
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1479-828X
pISSN - 0004-8666
DOI - 10.1111/ajo.12414
Subject(s) - medicine , multivitamin , pregnancy , vitamin , cross sectional study , vitamin d and neurology , obstetrics , pediatrics , genetics , pathology , biology
Aim To describe the use of dietary vitamin, mineral and herbal supplements before and during pregnancy. Materials and Methods Pregnant women attending for antenatal care at two tertiary Sydney hospitals between January and March 2014 completed an anonymous survey. Information on general maternal and pregnancy characteristics and the use of dietary and herbal supplements, including type, duration and sources of information, was collected. Frequency and contingency tabulations were performed. Results A total of 612 women agreed to participate (91% response rate). Of 589 women included in the analysis, mean gestational age at the time of survey was 28.5 weeks ( SD 8.3), 55% had no children, and 67% were tertiary‐educated. Overall, 62.9% of women reported taking a multivitamin ( MV ) and/or folic acid ( FA ) supplement in the 3 months prepregnancy, and 97.5% took a MV and/or FA in the first trimester. At the time of the survey, 93.8% of women were taking at least one supplement (median 2, range 1–13). During pregnancy, 79.1% of women were taking MV s, including 59.2% taking MV only and 19.9% taking MV and FA . The five most common supplements outside of a MV were FA (31%), iron (30%), vitamin D (23%), calcium (13%) and fish oil (12%). Reported herbal supplement rates were low. Conclusion Folic acid, MV s and other supplements use during and prepregnancy is relatively high, although prepregnancy FA supplementation rates could still be improved. Further research on the actual dosages and dietary intakes consumed is needed to examine whether pregnant women have adequate intake of nutrients, regardless of supplement use.