Nutrition Advice During Pregnancy: Do Women Receive it and Can Health Professionals Provide it?

Abstract

A healthy diet during pregnancy is essential for normal growth and development of the foetus. Pregnant women may obtain nutrition information from a number of sources but evidence regarding the adequacy and extent of this information is sparse. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify sources of nutrition information accessed by pregnant women, their perceived needs for nutrition education, the perceptions of healthcare providers about nutrition education in pregnancy, and to assess the effectiveness of public health programs that aim to improve nutritional practices. The Scopus data base was searched during January, 2013 and in February 2014 to access both qualitative and quantitative studies published between 2002 and 2014 which focused on healthy pregnant women and their healthcare providers in developed countries. Articles were excluded if they focused on the needs of women with medical conditions, including obesity, gestational diabetes or malnutrition. Of 506 articles identified by the search terms, 25 articles were deemed to be eligible for inclusion. Generally, women were not receiving adequate nutrition education during pregnancy. Although healthcare practitioners perceived nutrition education to be important, barriers to providing education to clients included lack of time, lack of resources and lack of relevant training. Further well designed studies are needed to identify the most effective nutrition education strategies to improve nutrition knowledge and dietary behaviours for women during antenatal care.

Barriers to a healthy lifestyle post gestational-diabetes: An Australian qualitative study

“…Studies suggest that women prefer to receive less information during the first health education session, with more details given at subsequent appointments [20], or to receive an easy-to-read bullet point pamphlet with options for further readings online [22]. Despite being well educated with good English language skills, overseas-born-women faced difficulties in understanding how to align their ethnic diet with the dietary recommendations.…”

Dietary habits and supplementation practices of young women during pregnancy: an online cross-sectional survey of young mothers and health care professionals

“…The qualitative interviews with young women and health professionals undertaken as part of the earlier stages of this study however found that while most health care professionals provided some nutritional support and information, the extent to which this was tailored to young women's individual needs varied considerably [11]. There are significant barriers to providing individualised nutritional support particularly in terms of time pressures and a lack of appropriate resources [21]. It is therefore important that the need for post-registration training, both relating to the specific nutritional issues identified in this study and wider skills regarding how behaviour change techniques can be applied in this context [22].…”

Using photovoice to examine community level barriers affecting maternal health in rural Wakiso district, Uganda

“…Yet they have not been prioritised in other community studies on maternal health in low-and middle-income countries. [49][50][51][52][53] The photovoice photographers benefited from the project by becoming more knowledgeable about maternal health and increasing their capacity to address problems affecting their communities. 30 During the course of the study, they were involved in health education, promoting healthy practices and carrying out voluntary work in their villages.…”