Abstract
633 London women who were given nutritional counselling in the last two trimesters of pregnancy had babies who were on average 78 g heavier than 266 controls who were not counselled. the birth head circumference and birth length of the babies of the counselled women were not significantly different to the controls. of the 633 counselled women, 211 received a vitamin-mineral supplement and 205 also received a supplement to provide additional linoleic acid. Neither supplemented group had babies with dimensions significantly different to the babies of 217 women who received counselling only with no supplemenets. Earlier papers showed very significant correlations between maternal nutrient intakes during the first trimester and birth dimensions; these strong associations contrast with the very modest effects of dietary supplementation in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy and emphasize the overriding importance of maternal nutrition around the time of conception. It is concluded that the variations in newborn size are mainly determined before the end of the first trimester.
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