Objective: To identify dietary patterns in women who are planning immediate pregnancy in preconception, weeks 6, 10, 26 and 38 of pregnancy, and 6 months postpartum, and to describe how particular lifestyles, the body mass index (BMI) and sociodemographic factors are associated to these patterns. Design: Longitudinal study throughout the reproductive cycle of food consumption carried out in a Spanish Mediterranean city. Setting: Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Rovira i Virgili University. Subjects: In total, 80 healthy female volunteers who were planning immediate pregnancy. Interventions: A seven-consecutive-day dietary record was used to evaluate the dietary intake. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the main dietary patterns in each of the periods. Fitted multiple linear regression models were used to study the associations between the lifestyle and sociodemographic variables, and each dietary pattern.

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This study refutes the previous explanations for the reduction in plasma tHcy known to occur in pregnancy, namely, folic acid supplementation, hemodilution, and a decrease in serum albumin. We suggest that the changes may be endocrine-based.

Background: Increased homocysteine has been associated with pregnancy complications. Methods: We investigated prospectively the effect of maternal homocysteine on normal pregnancy outcome. The study included 93 women and their offspring; 39 of the women took folic acid during the second and/or third trimesters of pregnancy. We measured homocysteine at preconception; at weeks 8, 20, and 32 of pregnancy; during labor; and in the fetal cord; we also recorded birth weight.