Nutrition education and counselling is a widely used strategy to improve the nutritional status of women during pregnancy. The strategy focuses primarily on:
enhancing maternal diet quality by increasing the diversity and amount of foods consumed
promoting adequate weight gain through sufficient and balanced protein and energy intake
promoting consistent and continued use of micronutrient supplements, food supplements or fortified foods.
Available evidence suggests that nutrition education and counselling may improve gestational weight gain, reduce the risk of anaemia in late pregnancy, increase birth weight, and lower the risk of preterm delivery. This intervention may be more effective when women are also provided with nutrition support such as food or micronutrient supplements.
Further research is needed before more specific recommendations can be made.