Nutrition and the use of multivitamin and mineral supplements during pregnancy and lactation

The dietary intake of pregnant women can have profound effects on pregnancy outcomes and adult disease risk in offspring. This is particularly so of some vulnerable groups of pregnant women including adolescents, vegetarians and vegan, underweight women, obese women and women who have undergone bariatric surgery. These groups present nutritional challenges and require additional supervision during pregnancy. This paper discusses the effects of dietary supplements in relation to the specific needs of the aforementioned groups in comparison to the needs of the general pregnant population