Maternal diet and interactions with nutritional evaluation during pregnancy

Abstract

This narrative review aims to describe the knowledge regarding nutritional evaluation and monitoring in pregnant women. We discuss care provided by non-specialists in nutrition, regarding dietary information and risks during pregnancy, from a theoretical or conceptual viewpoint. A narrative review was conducted following a literature search when scientific databases were investigated, including SciELO, LILACS, Medline, PubMed, theses, government reports, books, and chapters in books. Finally, the material was fully read, categorized, and critically analyzed. National and international protocols of prenatal nutritional care were included and discussed. Different protocols describe the complexity of evaluating and monitoring nutrition among pregnant women during the prenatal period according to each country. The understanding of social conditions and eating habits has an important role in providing nutritional advice during pregnancy. The lack of dietitians in care overwhelms the healthcare workers and characterizes a missed opportunity. Therefore, it is important to consider rapid support tools that can track adverse nutritional status, and ways to recommend a diet that meets eating habit dynamics, according to the reality of each public health system.

Keywords: anthropometry; maternal nutrition; nutritional assistance; prenatal care; prenatal diagnosis.