Midwifery and Womens Health

Track 11: Maternal and Child Health

Maternal nutrition plays a key role in fetal growth and development.  Maternal nutrition not only refers to the nutritional needs of women during the antenatal and postnatal period (i.e., when they are pregnant and breastfeeding) but also to the pre-conceptual period (i.e., adolescence). A healthy diet helps children to grow and learn. It also helps prevent obesity and other weight-related diseases, such as diabetes. Any kind of alterations in fetal nutrition or endocrine status may result in developmental adaptations that permanently change the structure, metabolism, and physiology of the offspring, thereby predisposing individuals to metabolic, endocrine, and cardiovascular diseases in adult life.