By Memory Kutengule Chatonda
Blantyre, May 4, Mana: Pregnant women in Blantyre will, from Monday this week, transition from receiving Iron Folic Acid (IFA) supplements to Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) during antenatal visits to various health facilities.
Safe Motherhood Coordinator for Blantyre District Health Office, Ellida Bvutula, disclosed this in Blantyre during a recent orientation workshop on MMS with frontline staff comprising nurses, pharmacists, and facility heads.
Bvutula who is also a Nursing Officer at Blantyre DHO, said the development follows a study and recommendation from the World Health Organization that the new supplement provides a broader nutritional support to both mothers and unborn babies, unlike IFA.
“MMS, which is an antenatal supplement, provides close to 15 micronutrients, including iron and folic acid, all combined in a single tablet. The single tablet is consumed every day throughout the pregnancy period.
“This is good for pregnant women to improve maternal nutrition and pregnancy outcomes," the Safe Motherhood coordinator,” added.
She said there was is strong evidence that the new supplement is harmless to expectant women, including those with diabetes, high blood pressure, heart diseases and a history of miscarriage.
“We expect that soon after the training sessions on Saturday, Monday, May 5, next week, we should start administering the new supplement," Bvutula said.
Principal Nutrition and HIV and AIDS Officer for Blantyre District Council, Ruth Hara, added that micronutrient levels in MMS are within recommended levels, saying the presence of zinc and vitamins (B1) improves appetite for expectant mothers.
The DHO has so far trained about 700 frontline health workers to understand the new supplement and also disseminate accurate information during antenatal sessions in their respective health facilities.
Nursing Officer for Zingwangwa Health Centre, Pauline Tonde, hailed the DHO for organizing MMS orientation.
She said the new supplement is beneficial to expectant women, pledging to engage health centre-based social behavioural change team at Zingwangwa to disseminate MMS messages through drama, poems, and songs to pregnant mothers during antenatal clinics.
Twenty years of evidence-based research in middle-income countries demonstrated that MMS reduces low birth weight by 19 percent, infant mortality by 29 percent, and preterm birth by 16 percent compared to IFA.
