SynthesisPloS one2021
Maternal-focused interventions to improve infant growth and nutritional status in low-middle income countries: A systematic review of reviews.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05593536 (Effect of Biological Nurturing Education to Pregnant Women on Breastfeeding Status), which is not on this map. Cited by 28 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Effect of Biological Nurturing Education to Pregnant Women on Breastfeeding Status
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 63 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Integrating Women and Girls' Nutrition Services into Health Systems in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2022Pooled it
- Effect of nutrition education integrating the health belief model and theory of planned behavior during pregnancy on gestational weight gain and birth weight in Southeast Ethiopia using complex analyses.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Trial
- Effect of maternal postnatal balanced energy protein supplementation and infant azithromycin on infant growth outcomes: an open-label randomized controlled trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2024Trial
- Maternal Health and Sociodemographic Characteristics Influence Infant Growth to 24 Months in the Tunza Mwana Cohort: A Prospective Cohort Study.Maternal & child nutrition · 2026Article
- Beyond the labels: Classifying countries by child health outcomes - A cluster analysis of child mortality and child-health data.Global health action · 2025Article
- Prediction models for stunting at 2-years-old from Indonesian newborn population.BMC pediatrics · 2025Article
- Infants less than 6 months of age at risk of poor growth and development: evidence gaps identified during WHO guideline development.BMJ global health · 2025Article
- Maternal Phenotype, Infant Size and Breast Milk Composition in Women Living With HIV.Maternal & child nutrition · 2025Article
- Investigating the effect of quail egg supplementation enriched with marine macroalgaeOpen veterinary journal · 2024Article
- Perinatal intervention strategies providing food with micronutrients to pregnant and breastfeeding women in low- and middle-income countries: A scoping review.Maternal & child nutrition · 2024Article
- Effect of nutrition assessment, counselling and support integration on mother-infant nutritional status, practices and health in Tororo and Butaleja districts, Uganda: A comparative non-equivalent quasi-experimental study.Journal of health, population, and nutrition · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
- Measuring the intangible resources caregivers need to provide nurturing care during the complementary feeding period: a scoping review in low- and lower-middle-income countries.Public health nutrition · 2024Article
- Dietary practice and associated factors among lactating mothers in Dangila District in the Awi Zone Amhara region Ethiopia, 2022: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2024Article
- Critical research gaps in treating growth faltering in infants under 6 months: A systematic review and meta-analysis.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Examining the burden and relationship between stunting and wasting among Timor-Leste under five rural children.PloS one · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSmall and nutritionally at-risk infants under 6 months (<6m) are a vulnerable group at increased risk of mortality, morbidity, poor growth and sub-optimal development. Current national and international (World Health Organization) management guidelines focus mainly on infants' needs, yet growing evidence suggests that maternal factors also influence infant outcomes. We aimed to inform future guidelines by exploring the impacts of maternal-focused interventions on infant feeding and growth.
methodsWe conducted a systematic review of reviews published since 2008 (PROSPERO, register number CRD 42019141724). We explored five databases and a wide variety of maternal-focused interventions based in low- and middle-income countries. Infant outcomes of interest included anthropometric status, birthweight, infant mortality, breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices. Given heterogenous interventions, we present a narrative synthesis of the extracted data.
resultsWe included a total of 55 systematic reviews. Numerous maternal interventions were effective in improving infant growth or feeding outcomes. These included breastfeeding promotion, education, support and counselling interventions. Maternal mental health, while under-researched, showed potential to positively impact infant growth. There was also some evidence for a positive impact of: women's empowerment, m-health technologies, conditional cash transfers, water, sanitation and hygiene and agricultural interventions. Effectiveness was increased when implemented as part of a multi-sectoral program. Antenatal supplementation with macronutrient, multiple micronutrients, Vitamin D, zinc, iron folic acid and possibly calcium, iodine and B12 in deficient women, improved birth outcomes. In contrast, evidence for postnatal supplementation was limited as was evidence directly focusing on small and nutritionally at-risk infants; most reviews focused on the prevention of growth faltering.
conclusionOur findings suggest sufficient evidence to justify greater inclusion of mothers in more holistic packages of care for small and nutritionally at-risk infants aged <6m. Context specific approaches are likely needed to support mother-infant dyads and ensure infants survive and thrive.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.