Micronutrient Deficiency in Pregnancy: Time to Think Beyond Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation

BACKGROUND: Micronutrients play an important role in influencing pregnancy outcomes. Anemia is common among pregnant women against which iron and folic acid supplementation programs are already in action. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of anemic and selected micronutrient status among pregnant women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It is a community-based cross-sectional study. The study was carried out among pregnant women registered in Primary Health Center, Kallur, Tirunelveli district, Tamil Nadu, India, using a semi-structured data capture tool. The blood samples were collected following standard procedure. RESULTS: The micronutrient status among 139 pregnant women were selenium <1%, copper <1%, zinc 11.5%, iodine 14.4%, Vitamin B12 41.7%, and ferritin 42.4%. Vitamin B12, zinc, and selenium levels showed a significant difference with reference values among the three trimesters. Iron and folic acid supplementation was followed by 58.7% of pregnant women. Multiple micronutrient deficiency with anemia was found among 54.6%. CONCLUSION: Anemia and micronutrient deficiency are high among pregnant women in this region. Since iron and folic acid supplementation strategies are already being implemented by the government, it is high time that we extend our health policy beyond that and plan for micronutrient supplementation as well.