Reproductive Health and Infertility

Maternal and Perinatal Health

Maternal nutrition has a major role in fetal growth and development.  Maternal nutrition not only refers to the nutritional needs of women during the antenatal and postnatal period (i.e., when they are pregnant and breastfeeding) but also to the pre-conceptual period (i.e., adolescence). Any kind of alterations in fetal nutrition or endocrine status may result in developmental adaptations that permanently change the structure, metabolism and physiology of the offspring, thereby predisposing individuals to metabolic, endocrine, and cardiovascular diseases in adult life.