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Pregnancy multivitamins are an ‘unnecessary expense’, with no proven benefit for most women, experts say

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Customers browsing products at a supplement outlet in Sydney, Australia. Photo: AFP

Multivitamins and mineral supplements in pregnancy are an “unnecessary expense” with no proven benefits for most well-nourished women or their babies, said a review of science data Tuesday.

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Such supplements are heavily marketed to women in all stages of pregnancy as a means of warding off health problems, said the analysis.

Pregnant women are a soft target for products which promise to give their baby the best start in life “regardless of cost”, said the authors.

And while daily doses of a B vitamin called folic acid, and vitamin D to a lesser degree, are known to be beneficial, there is no evidence that cocktails stuffed full of other vitamins are protective.

Some may even be harmful, said the paper: high doses of vitamin A can harm a developing foetus.

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Multivitamin and mineral supplements typically contain 20 or more active ingredients.

“We found no evidence to recommend that all pregnant women should take prenatal multi-nutrient supplements beyond the nationally (British) advised folic acid and vitamin D supplements, generic versions of which can be purchased relatively inexpensively,” said the review authors.

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