Efficacy of prenatal nutrition counseling: weight gain, infant birth weight, and cost-effectiveness

A retrospective study on the effect of intensive nutrition counseling on weight gain of pregnant women and birth weight of their infants was conducted at an outpatient clinic by comparing one group of 86 women who attended only a nutrition class with another group of 114 women who attended the class plus multiple counseling sessions on appropriate weight gain and nutrient intake. The women receiving the counseling on an average gained 2.5 kg more weight, had fewer low-birth-weight infants (4% vs. 13%), and had infants weighing 100 gm more at birth. That indicates that intensive nutrition counseling results in a superior outcome of pregnancy. When the cost of intensive neonatal care for six infants was compared with the cost of nutrition counseling, a benefit-to-cost ratio of 1:5 was found.