Many mothers-to-be purchase expensive vitamin tablets in a bid to give their little bundle of joy the best start in life. But they are wasting their money as there is no evidence they improve the baby’s health, a new study has warned. High levels of vitamin A could even harm the child, researchers said. Pregnant women are bombarded with adverts for vitamin and mineral supplements, but they should ignore the marketing hype, instead focusing on improving their diet, they said. The only supplements necessary are folic acid and vitamin D – which are already recommended by the NHS and other health service worldwide. A deficiency in key nutrients has been linked to various complications of pregnancy and birth, including pre-eclampsia, restricted foetal growth, neural tube defects, skeletal deformities and low birth weight. Doctors said good nourishment, both before and during pregnancy, was essential for the health of the mother and her unborn child. But a wide range of multi-vitamin and mineral supplements are heavily marketed to women for all stages of pregnancy to guard against a range of these problems. Typically these supplements contain 20+ vitamins and minerals, such as vitamins B1, B2, B3, B6, B12, C, D, E, K, folic acid, iodine, magnesium, iron, copper, zinc and selenium, at a cost of around £15 a month. Aside from folic acid and vitamin D, these supplements are simply not needed – and high doses of vitamin A may harm the developing foetus. Taking folic acid – found in fortified bread – is essential to reduce neural tube defects such as anencephaly and spina bifida, and is backed by most scientific studies. The evidence for taking Vitamin D was less clear cut but pregnant and breast feeding mothers are urged to take a daily dose of 10µg to ensure their baby’s bones are healthy. The conclusions were published in a review of the available evidence published in the BMJ’s Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin. Dr James Cave, the journal’s editor, said, “We found no evidence to recommend that all pregnant women should take prenatal multi-nutrient supplements beyond the nationally advised folic acid and vitamin D supplements, generic versions of which can be purchased relatively inexpensively. The primary focus should be on promoting a healthy diet and improving the use of folic acid supplements, which have a poor uptake, particularly among those from lower income families.” He continued, “For most women who are planning to become pregnant or who are pregnant, complex multivitamin and mineral preparations promoted for use during pregnancy are unlikely to be needed and are an unnecessary expense. The marketing of such products does not appear to be supported by evidence of improvement in child or maternal outcomes.” Pregnant women may be vulnerable to messages about giving their baby the best start in life, regardless of cost, he said. They may be unaware the only supplements recommended for all women during pregnancy are folic acid and vitamin D, which are available at relatively low cost, he said. The researchers urged the NHS to make low-cost tablets containing vitamin D, folic acid and vitamin C more widely accessible by expanding the UK wide Healthy Start scheme. Currently it is only provides the free vitamin supplements to low income pregnant women who are at least 10 weeks pregnant.