Association with Maternal Diet Quality during Pregnancy and Neonatal Brain White Matter Development

Motivation: Maternal nutrient intake is important for fetal growth and development. Goal(s): This study examined associations between maternal diet quality during pregnancy and neonatal brain white matter development. Approach: Forty-four healthy pregnant woman/newborn dyads were included in the study. The mothers had nutrition intake assessed by Healthy Eating Index-2015 (HEI-2015) throughout pregnancy. Correlations between neonatal MRI diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)-measured fractional anisotropy (FA) and HEI-2015 scores were evaluated. Results: Significant correlations between maternal sodium intake at 1st trimester of pregnancy and neonatal white matter FA values were found, indicating potential influence of maternal sodium intake during early pregnancy on neonatal brain white matter development. Impact: We found significant correlations between maternal sodium intake at first trimester of pregnancy and neonatal DTI-measured FA values, indicating sodium intake better aligned with the Dietary Guidelines of Americans during early pregnancy is associated with better neonatal white matter development.