Resources

Global guidance

WHO (2016) WHO recommendations on antenatal care for a positive pregnancy https://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/maternal_perinatal_health/anc-positive-pregnancy-experience/en/

UNICEF-WHO (2019) Low birthweight estimates. Levels and trends 2000-2015 www.unicef.org/media/53711/file/UNICEFWHO Low birthweight estimates 2019 .pdf 

Regional reports

Stop Stunting / Power of Maternal Nutrition

The report from the conference on Scaling up the Nutritional Care of Women in South Asia, 7-9 May 2018, Kathmandu, Nepal, summarises findings from this event, attended by countries and experts in the region: https://wcmsprod.unicef.org/rosa/reports/stop-stunting

Policy and programme landscape

Currently in press, this policy and programme landscape review examines the extent to which national policies in South Asian countries are in line with the 2016 World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations on maternal nutrition, and provides insights on the health system bottlenecks that are constraining the translation of these policies to programme action.

UNICEF (2019). Nutritional care of pregnant women in South Asia: Policy environment and programme action. UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia: Kathmandu. Contact UNICEF ROSA for the report.

Published literature

Maternal and Child Nutrition provides an invaluable source of up-to-date information for health professionals, academics and service users, covering topics such as pre-conception, antenatal and postnatal maternal nutrition, and women’s nutrition throughout their reproductive years. Two recent supplements on South Asia have highlighted the importance of maternal nutrition.

Stop Stunting supplement

Stop stunting: Improving child feeding, women’s nutrition and household sanitation in South Asia. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 12(Suppl 1), https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17408709/2016/12/S1

• Vir SC. (2016). Improving women’s nutrition imperative for rapid reduction of childhood stunting in South Asia: Coupling of nutrition specific interventions with nutrition sensitive measures essential. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 12(Suppl 1), 72–90. https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12255

Higher Heights supplement

Higher heights: A greater ambition for maternal and child nutrition in South Asia. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 14(Suppl 4) https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/17408709/2018/14/S4

• Goudet S, Murira Z, Torlesse H, Hatchard J & Busch-Hallen J. (2018). Effectiveness of programme approaches to improve the coverage of maternal nutrition interventions in South Asia. Maternal & Child Nutrition, 14(Suppl 4), https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12699

Nguyen et al. (2017). Integrating Nutrition Interventions into an Existing Maternal, Neonatal, and Child Health Program Increased Maternal Dietary Diversity, Micronutrient Intake, and Exclusive Breastfeeding Practices in Bangladesh: Results of a Cluster-Randomized Program Evaluation. Journal of Nutrition www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5697969/

‘How to’ guide

Results from a feasibility study conducted by Alive & Thrive (A&T) in Bangladesh shows that integrating maternal nutrition into maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) programmes is both effective and attainable. This brief outlines how to deliver nutrition interventions as key components of MNCH programmes to achieve scale and impact in Bangladesh.

• A&T (2018). How to scale up maternal nutrition: A successful operational approach based on WHO’s antenatal care guidelines and Alive & Thrive’s implementation framework, which         describes lessons learned from work in Bangladesh. www.aliveandthrive.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/How-to-scale-up-maternal-nutrition-brief.pdf