Vitamins cut birth defects in diabetics

Regular use of multivitamins may reduce the risk of birth defects in infants born to mothers with diabetes, according to a new study. Usually women of childbearing age are advised to take supplements containing folic acid to protect against certain birth defects, but the current study highlights the need for diabetic women to take multivitamins.Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, USA, studied 3,278 women who had children with birth defects and 3,029 women who had healthy children.It was found that diabetic women who reported regular use of multivitamins were just as likely to have a healthy baby as non-diabetic women who also supplemented regularly but the researchers were not able to isolate which nutrients may be producing a beneficial effect. In contrast, women with diabetes who did not take a multivitamin were almost four times more likely to have a child with a birth defect than non-diabetic women who did not take a multivitamin.

The report emphasises the importance of multivitamin use during periconception, which is the period from three months prior to conception to the first three months of pregnancy. It is in the first weeks of pregnancy, when women often do not know they are pregnant, that the major organs and systems of the body are being formed. Good prenatal care that includes diabetes control, before and during early pregnancy as well as other factors such as adequate nutrition are advised to all diabetic women. The study indicates that it would be prudent to recommend that diabetic women take multivitamins during pregnancy. Birth defects of the brain, spinal cord and heart are more common in the children of diabetic women than in other women. Regular supplementation was defined as taking multivitamins three or more times a week, and use had to occur during the three months prior to conception, as well as the first three months of pregnancy.Women who have poorly controlled diabetes in the first months of pregnancy are two to four times as likely as non-diabetic women to have a child with birth defects. It is not known why diabetic women are at greater risk for having children with birth defects, but meticulous prenatal care has been effective in minimising risks during these pregnancies.

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