World Health Day: WHO calls for maternal and infant health investments amid aid cuts

On today’s World Health Day, the WHO kicks off a year-long campaign on maternal and newborn health called “Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures.” The organization urges governments and the health community to expand efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths as humanitarian funding cuts are forcing countries to roll back vital health services.

A UN report released today, Trends in Maternal Mortality, shows a 40% global decline in maternal deaths between 2000–2023 but indicates that the “pace of improvement has slowed significantly since 2016.” In 2023, an estimated 260,000 women died as a result of complications from pregnancy or childbirth. 

Nutrition Insight discusses targeted nutrition solutions and crucial nutrients that support women’s health during and after pregnancy and infants in the first 1,000 days with Dr. Paul Lohmann, Gnosis by Lesaffre, and Valio. 

Minerals for maternal health

Klaus Brockhausen, sales director of Food at Dr. Paul Lohmann, tells us minerals play a vital role in maternal and infant health, “supporting everything from fetal development to postpartum recovery.” Key minerals include iron, calcium, magnesium, and zinc. 

He details that iron is essential for oxygen transport and preventing maternal anemia. “Our Iron Bisglycinate ensures high bioavailability with gastrointestinal comfort and proven absorption, making it a safe and effective choice.” 

Calcium supports fetal bone development and helps maintain maternal bone density. The company’s calcium citrate offers a high calcium content, a neutral taste, and optimal bioavailability without interacting with proteins. 

“Magnesium supports muscle function and nerve health and helps reduce pregnancy-related complications,” Brockhausen continues. “Magnesium citrate provides exceptional solubility and bioavailability, effectively reducing stress, improving sleep quality, and regulating mood swings.” 

Brockhausen says that minerals like iron, calcium, magnesium, and zinc play a vital role in maternal and infant health.In addition, he says that magnesium citrate helps improve sleep quality and reduce stress, offering a much-needed balance during postpartum recovery. 

He adds: “Zinc plays a key role in immune function and wound healing. Zinc bisglycinate is fully reacted, highly pure, and ensures optimal absorption, making it the ideal choice for maternal and infant health.”

Effective folate formulations

According to Stefania Sala, product manager of Reproductive and Women’s Health at Gnosis by Lesaffre, folate or folic acid is the most critical nutrient to support a healthy pregnancy. 

“This venerable vitamin (B9) has long been proven to prevent neural tube and other birth defects in the newborn,” she details. 

“But there is a significant and critical difference in forms for women: The natural form of folate — 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF) — is clinically proven to be a more effective alternative to folic acid for pregnant women. And the beauty is that 5-MTHF is efficient for every woman because many have a genetic MTHFR polymorphism or mutation that prevents full absorption of B9, so they do not achieve the benefits.” 

Sala adds that 5-MTHF can support a healthy pregnancy by supporting healthy homocysteine levels, 5–15 µmol/L. Higher levels can be associated with fetal neural tube defects, pre-eclampsia in the mother, placental abruption, and recurrent pregnancy loss. 

Sala underscores that the natural form of folate (5-methyltetrahydrofolate) is a more effective alternative to folic acid.“Folate combined with other B vitamins helps pregnant women manage their homocysteine levels. In one study, two months of daily supplementation with 5-MTHF (as Quatrefolic from Gnosis by Lesaffre) combined with B6 and B12 was more effective in reducing homocysteine blood levels than folic acid alone.” 

Quatrefolic can also support women’s health by stopping the onset of anemia in iron deficiency, according to a three-month study. Sala says that folate supplementation for pregnant women can reduce maternal anemia by 69%, reduce the risk of premature birth, and result in greater mean birth weight. 

“Quatrefolic folate contributes to normal red blood formation, a claim allowable by the EFSA. In addition, Quatrefolic and iron have been shown to produce healthy red blood cells, ensuring normal hemoglobin production and efficient oxygen transport in the body.”

Personalized infant nutrition

Along with women’s health during pregnancy, WHO’s campaign aims to raise awareness about gaps in newborn survival and advocate for investments that improve infant health. 

Valio prioritizes developing infant formulas similar to human milk to enhance infant health while advocating that “breast milk is the best choice for infants.”

Dr. Anu Turpeinen, Nutrition Research manager at Valio, says that fat significantly impacts infant health and well-being, as this provides about half of the energy content of human milk.

Valio prioritizes developing infant formulas similar to human milk to enhance infant health.“Cow’s milk fat has many natural similarities with human milk fat in composition and structure. The milk fat globule membrane (MFGM), a unique property of mammal milk, contains a diverse range of bioactive lipids and proteins and has been shown to enhance cognitive development and immune function in infants.”

In addition, the company aims to provide solutions for infants with special nutritional needs, such as low-lactose infant formula. “We have protein hydrolysates to promote gut well-being and aim to expand our portfolio in this area,” details Turpeinen.  

Sinikka Saikkonen, business development manager at Valio, points to the rising trend of personalization in infant formulas. “As evidence of the importance of maternal nutrition during pregnancy on offspring grows, we will also see more personalized solutions in maternal products.”

“Human milk is the best example of personalized nutrition by adapting to the baby’s needs in real-time. Infant formula components, such as fat, protein, and human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), can also be personalized to some extent.”

She adds that digestive disorders and different gastrointestinal symptoms are estimated to affect about 30% of infants, causing distress to families. “We aim to expand our portfolio to provide solutions for different needs to enhance gut well-being.” 

The threat of unprecedented aid cuts

The WHO calls for urgent investment to prevent maternal deaths: “The world is currently off-track to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal target for maternal survival. Globally, the maternal mortality ratio would need to fall by around 15% each year to meet the 2030 target — significantly increasing from current annual rates of decline of around 1.5%.”

“When a mother dies in pregnancy or childbirth, her baby’s life is also at risk. Too often, both are lost to causes we know how to prevent,” comments Catherine Russell, UNICEF executive director. 

The UN report finds significant inequalities between countries, with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for 70% of 2023 maternal deaths.“Global funding cuts to health services are putting more pregnant women at risk, especially in the most fragile settings, by limiting their access to essential care during pregnancy and the support they need when giving birth. The world must urgently invest in midwives, nurses, and community health workers to ensure every mother and baby has a chance to survive and thrive.”

The UN report on World Health Day highlights inequalities between regions and countries. For example, only three areas saw significant drops in maternal mortality after 2015 — Australia and New Zealand, Central and Southern Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. 

At the same time, sub-Saharan Africa accounted for around 70% of the global burden of maternal deaths in 2023 due to high poverty rates and multiple conflicts. 

“While this report shows glimmers of hope, the data also highlights how dangerous pregnancy still is in much of the world today — even though solutions exist to prevent and treat the complications that cause the vast majority of maternal deaths,” underscores Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.