ZINC SUPPLEMENTATION DURING PREGNANCY - A DOUBLE-BLIND RANDOMIZED CONTROLLED TRIAL

Objective. To investigate whether zinc supplementation during pregnanc y improves maternal and fetal outcome. Design. Controlled clinical tri al started at registration until discharge of mother and child from ho spital. Two thousand volunteer mothers were randomly assigned to recei ve zinc supplementation or placebo in a double blind trial. Patients. Women less than 20 weeks pregnant at the first visit who agreed to tak e part in the study. One thousand two hundred and six mothers were ava ilable for study. Interventions. Volunteers were randomly selected to receive two tablets of zinc (44mg zinc in total) or two placebo tablet s containing inert substances, indistinguishable in appearance and tas te from the zinc tablets. Outcome measure. Large for gestational age ( LGA), small for gestational age (SGA), premature rupture of the membra ne (PROM), preterm labor (PL), preeclampsia and bleeding in the second or third trimester. Results. There were no differences between mother s given zinc supplementation concerning the outcome parameters and tho se given placebo. Conclusion. Zinc supplementation in pregnancy in a n ormal healthy middle class population in Denmark does not seem to offe r any benefits to the mother or her fetus.