Effect of nutrition on pregnancy and lactation.

Pregnancy and lactation constitute states of considerable physiological stress which impose increased nutritional demands. If these demands are not adequately met, it may be expected that not only the nutritional status of the subject will be affected, but also the course of pregnancy and lactation. While a great deal of work with experimental animals has been carried out to elucidate the role of nutrition in pregnancy and lactation, the question arises how far these experimental results are applicable to human subjects. The unfortunate nutritional situation prevalent in certain under-developed countries affords opportunities for the study of the effects of nutritional deficiencies on the course of pregnancy and lactation in the human subject. In this paper, the available literature on the effect of maternal nutrition on the course of pregnancy and the condition of the infant at birth is reviewed, as is the effect of the state of maternal nutrition on the output and chemical composition of milk in nursing mothers. The review reveals many important gaps in our knowledge and highlights the need for further work on this important problem.