THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MATERNAL NUTRITIONAL-STATUS AND SPONTANEOUS-ABORTION

Background. The incidence of pregnancy wastage is high among poor wome n. Though the aetiology of spontaneous abortion is multifactorial, nut ritional deficiency is considered to be an important contributory fact or. Methods. A case-control study was conducted to assess the relation ship between maternal vitamin status and spontaneous abortion. Results . The incidence of anaemia (15%), and riboflavin (84%) and folate defi ciency (24.5%) were similar among the cases and controls. Vitamin A le vels were higher in the study group compared to those in controls. Con clusion. The results suggest that various nutrient deficiencies have n o correlation with the occurrence of spontaneous abortion. The role of increased vitamin A levels needs to be studied further.