%0 Journal Article
%T Vitamin A and Pregnancy: A Narrative Review.
%A Bastos Maia S
%A Rolland Souza AS
%A Costa Caminha MF
%A Lins da Silva S
%A Callou Cruz RSBL
%A Carvalho Dos Santos C
%A Batista Filho M
%J Nutrients
%V 11
%N 3
%D Mar 2019 22
%M 30909386
%F 6.706
%R 10.3390/nu11030681
%X Vitamin A is a crucial micronutrient for pregnant women and their fetuses. In addition to being essential for morphological and functional development and for ocular integrity, vitamin A exerts systemic effects on several fetal organs and on the fetal skeleton. Vitamin A requirements during pregnancy are therefore greater. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) remains the leading cause of preventable blindness in the world. VAD in pregnant women is a public health issue in most developing countries. In contrast, in some developed countries, excessive vitamin A intake during pregnancy can be a concern since, when in excess, this micronutrient may exert teratogenic effects in the first 60 days following conception. Routine prenatal vitamin A supplementation for the prevention of maternal and infant morbidity and mortality is not recommended; however, in regions where VAD is a public health issue, vitamin A supplementation is recommended to prevent night blindness. Given the importance of this topic and the lack of a complete, up-to-date review on vitamin A and pregnancy, an extensive review of the literature was conducted to identify conflicting or incomplete data on the topic as well as any gaps in existing data.