Customized Nutritional Enhancement for Pregnant Women Appears to Lower Incidence of Certain Common Maternal and Neonatal Complications: An Observational Study

Abstract

A retrospective chart review analyzed the effect of customized nutrition on the incidence of pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), gestational diabetes (GDM), and small- and large-for-gestational-age (SGA, LGA) neonates, examining consecutive deliveries between January 1, 2011, and Decem ber 31, 2012, at a low-risk community hospital. The population was divided into 3 groups: (1) study group (SG), (2) private practice (PP), and (3) community healthcare clinic (CHCC). All groups received standard perinatal management, but additionally the study group was analyzed for serum zinc, carnitine, total 25-hydroxy cholecalciferol (25 OH-D), methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase, and catechol-O-methyl transferase polymorphisms in the first trimester prior to intervention, with subsequent second trimester and postpartum assessment of zinc, carnitine, and 25 OH-D after intervention. Intervention consisted of trimesterby-trimester nutrition and lifestyle education, supplementation of L-methyl folate, magnesium, essential fatty acids, and probiotics for all SG patients, with targeted supplementation of zinc, carnitine, and 25 OH-D. Because of small case occurrence rates of individual conditions in the study group, unreportable reductions were found, except GDM (SG vs CHCC, P value .046 with 95.38% confidence interval [CI]), and PIH (SG vs PP, P value .0505 with 94.95% CIl). The aggregated occurrence rate of the four conditions, however, was significantly lower in the study population than in either comparison population (PP P value .0154 with 98.46% CI, and CHCC P value .0265 with 97.35% CI). Customized nutritional intervention appears to have significantly reduced adverse perinatal outcomes. Prospective study within larger, at-risk populations is needed to determine whether customized nutrition improves conditions individually.

Through the Microbial Looking Glass: Premature Labor, Preeclampsia, and Gestational Diabetes

“…The findings of this scoping review suggest that the vaginal flora of African American women may predispose them to PTB risk. Customized nutritional interventions with prebiotics, probiotics, or synbiotics 94 may offer low-risk strategies for primary prevention.…”

Unsolved Mysteries of the Human Mammary Gland: Defining and Redefining the Critical Questions from the Lactation Consultant’s Perspective

“…But in the U.S. especially, high-fat and low-nutrition foods are cheap and easy to obtain. When pregnant women were given customized nutritional advice and treatment, they had fewer adverse perinatal outcomes than control groups from private practice and community clinics [147]. Might such targeted nutritional intervention improve lactation for some mothers as well?…”