Gestational nutrition and its influences on fetal neurodevelopment: An integrative review

Abstract

Introduction: Appropriate maternal nutrition brings benefits to the mother and fetus. Diseases, for both, can be avoided with a nutritionally complete and individualized diet for the pregnant woman.

Objective: To describe how adequate intake of vitamin B12, folic acid, iron, choline and polyunsaturated fatty acids (EPA and DHA) during the gestational period affects fetal neurodevelopment.

Material and Methods: Integrative review of scientific literature in articles published between 2015 and 2020, in Portuguese, English, Spanish and French, with the combination of the following descriptors: Fetal Development; Nutrients; Diet; Pregnancy; Nervous system.

Results: According to the studies the appropriate recommendations, in pregnancy, for choline is 450mg/day, iron is 27 mg/day, omega 3 is 1.4 g/ day, vitamin B12 2.6 μg/day and folic acid is 600 μg/day. The absence of these, in the necessary quantities, causes problems in the neural tube closure, genetic malformations and DNA changes.

Conclusion: The nutrients analyzed are essential for the gestational period. In the absenteeism of essential amounts of these for mother and fetus, the damage is enormous for the baby, increasingthe chances of developing diseases of the Nervous System, especially in areas responsible for learning, cognition, and memory. Besides that, it also increases the possibilities of malformations.