Healthy pregnancy and birth outcomes are greatly influenced by the intake of adequate and balanced nutrition. Pregnant women’s nutritional knowledge and practice have been identified as an important prerequisites for their proper nutritional intake. The antenatal period with the opportunities for regular contact with health professionals appears to be the ideal time and setting to institute the intervention which could maximize pregnant women’s outcome and that of their baby by motivating them to make nutritional changes. This review has shown that the nutrition messages given to pregnant women by trained health professionals using a holistic approach in a sustained manner can play a huge role in increasing their knowledge and in introducing positive dietary practices among them. Thus ANC clinics must play a leading role in coordinating the effort of awareness creation regarding nutrition during pregnancy. |