Vitamin A nutritional status in high- and low-income postpartum women and its effect on colostrum and the requirements of the term newborn.

Objective: To evaluate the vitamin A status in serum and colostrum of postpartum women with different socioeconomic status, comparing the colostrum retinol supply with the vitamin A requirement of the newborn.

Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted with 424 postpartum women. Vitamin A maternal dietary intake was estimated using a food frequency questionnaire.

Effect of routine prenatal supplementation on vitamin concentrations in maternal serum and breast milk.

Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of multivitamin supplements and their different vitamin A sources on retinol concentrations in serum and colostrum milk of postpartum women.

Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study composed of healthy postpartum women attending two Brazilian private maternity wards (N = 100). According to the type of multivitamin taken during pregnancy, the women were assigned to one of four groups: control group (CG; n = 25), formulation 1 (F1; n = 25), formulation 2 (F2; n = 25), and formulation 3 (F3; n = 25).

[Comparison between the serum concentration of alpha-tocopherol in puerperal women assisted in public and private maternities in Northeastern Brazil].

Purpose: To compare the concentration of serum alpha-tocopherol during the postpartum period in women admitted to public and private hospitals in Natal (RN), Brazil.

Methods: The study included 209 women in the postpartum period, 96 of them from private hospitals and 113 from public hospitals, studied between 24 and 48 hours postpartum. Inclusion criteria were: mothers aged 12 years or more, without diseases associated with pregnancy, who had given birth to a singleton with no malformations.