The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 280 No 7495 p355
29 March 2008

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News summary

NICE offers advice on helping mothers and pregnant women make decisions about lifestyle

Guidance on how to help pregnant women and mothers make decisions about their diet and lifestyle has been issued by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.

Health professionals are asked to advise pregnant women and parents of young children about the Healthy Start scheme, to support families in changing their diet, to check that women at risk of vitamin D deficiency are following advice on supplementation and to advise women who could become pregnant about the benefits of taking folic acid supplements.

In separate guidance, NICE says that women with diabetes who are planning to become pregnant should be informed that establishing good glycaemic control before conception and continuing this throughout pregnancy will reduce the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death and of the baby having a malformation at birth. NICE also says that women with pre-existing diabetes should access specialist services before conception.