Nutrition and Maternal Health

Abstract

The twentieth century has witnessed tremendous technical progress culminating in man's conquest of space and his landing on the moon. However, despite these achievements, some of the worst forms of malnutrition are haunting mankind even today. Poorly nourished mothers give birth to small infants whose neonatal, perinatal and infant mortality rates are alarming. While there is scientific evidence for the favourable effects of birth spacing and reduced family size on child health and survival, there is no knowledge regarding the role of nutrition on the reproductive capacity, gestational age, delivery, duration of labour, birth spacing and previous pregnancies. The present study aimed at gathering information regarding these aspects.