Introduction: Adequate micronutrient levels during pregnancy can significantly affect pregnancy outcomes. Adequate nutrition ensures the health of the pregnant woman and provides the fetus with optimal amounts of micronutrients for its development. Preventing adverse pregnancy outcomes due to micronutrient deficiencies through the use of dietary supplements is a good and effective strategy. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to desribe the use of dietary supplements in pregnancy, their importance and impact on pregnancy and to present the knowledge of pregnant women and health professionals about dietary supplements and healthy eating and the specifics and use of dietary supplements in pregnant women with anemia. Methods: In this thesis we used a descriptive method with a review of literature, which was published from 2000 to 2020. We used various databases such as diKUL, CINAHL, PubMed and ScienceDirect to search the literature. The search was conducted with combination of keywords in Slovenian and English: »pregnancy«, »pregnancy AND dietary supplements«, »pregnancy AND dietary supplements AND knowledge«, »pregnancy AND dietary supplements AND anemia«. Results: The review of the literature shows that 66 to 97 % of women use dietary supplements during pregnancy and only a good half of pregnant women have sufficient knowledge about healthy eating and dietary supplements during pregnancy. The low level of knowledge of health professionals about nutrition and dietary supplements may be due to a lack of training. Education of health professionals has significantly improved their knowledge. Routine supplementation with iron supplements is effective in pregnant women with anemia. Discussion and conclusion: Because adequate micronutrient intake in pregnant women is often not achieved, the use of dietary supplements is often necessary to achieve adequate intake of all necessary nutrients. Good knowledge helps to improve the eating habits of pregnant women and reduces risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes. Adequate knowledge of health professionals, who play a major role in health education and promotion, is also important. Iron supplements are an effective therapy for pregnant women with anemia.
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