Efficacy of maternal B supplementation in vegetarian women for improving infant neurodevelopment: protocol for the MATCOBIND multicentre, double-blind, randomised controlled trial.

Introduction: Vitamin B deficiency is widely prevalent across many low- and middle-income countries, especially where the diet is low in animal sources. While many observational studies show associations between B deficiency in pregnancy and infant cognitive function (including memory, language and motor skills), evidence from clinical trials is sparse and inconclusive.

Methods And Analysis: This double-blind, multicentre, randomised controlled trial will enrol 720 vegetarian pregnant women in their first trimester from antenatal clinics at two hospitals (one in India and one in Nepal).