Abstract
Background
The World Health Organization recommends routine vitamin A supplementation during pregnancy or lactation in areas with endemic vitamin Ad eficiency (where night blindness occurs), based on the expectation that supplementation will improve maternal and newborn outcomes including mortality, morbidity and prevention of anaemia or infection.
Objectives
To review the effects of supplementation of vitamin A, or one of its derivatives, during pregnancy, alone or in combination with other vitamins and micronutrients, on maternal and newborn clinical outcomes.
Search methods
We searched the Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group’s Trials Register (30March 2015) and reference lists of retrieved studies.
Selection criteria
All randomised or quasi-randomised trials, including cluster-randomised trials, evaluating the effect of vitamin A supplementation in pregnant women.
Data collection and analysis
Two review authors independently assessed trials for inclusion and risk of bias, extracted data and checked them for accuracy.
Main results
We reviewed 106 reports of 35 trials, published between 1931 and 2015. We included 19 trials including over 310,000 women,
excluded 15 trials and one is ongoing. Overall, seven trials were judged to be of low risk of bias, three were high risk of bias and for nine it was unclear.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | CD008666 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-112 |
| Journal | Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews |
| Volume | 2016 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 27 Oct 2015 |