Maternal Nutrition- and Adverse Pregnancy Outcomes: Lessons from Epidemiology

摘要

Until recently adverse pregnancy outcomes such as stillbirth, infant mortality, and low birth weight (including its components, preterm birth and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)) provided a coherent 'package' of adverse pregnancy outcomes with consistent geographic and temporal trends. The poorest developing countries were generally those with the highest rates of all of these adverse outcomes, whereas northern Europe, Japan, and other highly developed industrialized countries had the lowest rates. In terms of temporal trends, most of these adverse pregnancy outcomes were decreasing over time in both developed and developing countries.