Amsterdam, 17 March 2022 – Around the world, many women lack access to essential nutrition during pregnancy from their diets only. The right nutrition during pregnancy is essential as the mother’s health is better safeguarded, and her child is more likely to have a good start in life. In line with our mission, and with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3, IDA Foundation aims to support both maternal- and child-health, by supplying a broad range of products related to family planning, healthy pregnancies and safe births.

To support healthy pregnancies, IDA has already been supplying iron-folic acid (IFA) to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for many years. Last year we added Multiple Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) to our portfolio, through a partnership with Kirk Humanitarian, MMS are the current standard supplements for pregnant women in high-income countries and have been added to the WHO Essential Medicines List (EML) last year. Kirk Humanitarian’s MMS contains fifteen essential vitamins and minerals, including IFA, which support good health for those expecting a child, as well as better physical growth and cognitive development in unborn children and it has shown improved birth outcomes. MMS are especially beneficial for pregnant women that are malnourished or anemic. For example, the risk of infant mortality (from 0-6 months of age) decreases by 29% when an anemic woman takes MMS during her pregnancy (Kirk Humanitarian, 2021).

MMS is available to order from IDA now. Contact your IDA Sales representative to add MMS to your order. Find more information on MMS, and our MMS factsheet on our Reproductive and Maternal Health page.