Abstract
The importance of maternal nutrition during pregnancy is increasingly emphasized and several recommendations are given to pregnant women. This article will review the evidence on which such recommendations are based, with a particular focus on The Netherlands. In well-nourished populations, the evidence is generally insufficient and results are relatively poor. Aside from the benefits of stopping smoking, alcohol and substance abuse, the only evidence-based nutritional recommendation in The Netherlands is the periconceptional use of folic acid for the prevention of fetal neural tube defects. However, only approximately a third of all pregnant Dutch women actually do take folic acid. This implies that other strategies need to be explored in order to reach more of these women. In addition, there is a need for more high-quality research on the benefits of good nutrition during pregnancy in well-nourished populations, both for mother and child. In developing countries, the health benefits of supplementing the maternal diet in undernourished or vitamin-deficient women are irrefutable.