Women are reducing the risk of preeclampsia by taking a multivitamin supplement regularly three months before conception and during the first trimester of pregnancy, according to a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center study that will be published in the September 1 print issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.

In the study, women (overall) who used multivitamins had 45% reduction in preeclampsia risk, with results even more remarkable in women who were not overweight prior to pregnancy.

"Our data show that women who are not overweight before pregnancy and who used multivitamins at least once a week before conception and in the first three months of pregnancy reduced their risk of preeclampsia by a striking 72 percent compared to those who didn't take a multivitamin during this time period," said Lisa Bodnar, Ph.D., M.P.H., R.D., assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH).

"At this time, multivitamin use makes little apparent difference in preeclampsia rates for women who are overweight before pregnancy. Even so, the results suggest that regular multivitamin use in the pre-pregnancy period may help to prevent preeclampsia."

Signs of preeclampsia (a.k.a. toxemia) include high blood pressure, protein in the urine and swelling of the hands and feet. This condition, affecting about 7% of first pregnancies and is the leading cause of premature delivery and maternal/fatal death, when untreated may lead to the far more serious eclampsia, which can lead to seizures, coma and death.

The mechanism by which multivitamins reduced the risk of preelampsiais still unknown, but the fact that multivitamins are full of nutrients says a lot about the relevant role of nutrition for the prevention of preeclampsia.

Read more at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.