Powering Women Blog

Pregnancy is an exciting time for many women, but it is also a time of increased nutritional needs as the body works to support the growing fetus. Unfortunately, many women in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) struggle to meet these needs, leading to micronutrient deficiencies that can have serious consequences for both mother and baby.

Photo by Annie Spratt at Unsplash.com By Dr. Cecilia Fabrizio, ST4N Program Lead and Dr. Anna Kalbarczyk, Assistant Scientist at Johns Hopkins University The Global Food Crisis today is tragically compounding the lasting effects of the pandemic on women and girls’ nutrition.  We know that malnutrition is both a cause and effect of gender inequality. 

The addition of prenatal multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) by the World Health Organization (WHO) to its Model List of Essential Medicines (EML) last October, marked the start of a new era for tackling maternal malnutrition and improving pregnancy outcomes for countless mothers who lack access to nutrient dense diets or proper antenatal health and nutrition

The International Coalition for Advocacy on Nutrition (ICAN) and the Scaling Up Nutrition Civil Society Network (SUN CSN) brought together diverse country leaders and experts for a Food Systems Summit Independent Dialogue last week to inspire action on a frequently invisible threat to health and prosperity – women’s and girl’s poor nutrition status. As a