Maternal consumption of dairy products and gestational weight gain, gestational diabetes mellitus, and preeclampsia: A systematic review

Background: This study clarified the associations between dairy consumption during pregnancy and all pregnancy complications.Methods: Literature searches were performed in PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library. The final search date was October 22, 2021. Tabular textual descriptions and effect direction plots were used to display the results of the included studies. The effects were synthesized for each outcome by vote counting based on the direction of effect.Results: Twenty-seven studies, including 28 reports, were included in the systematic review. There were 59,973 participants assessed for gestational weight gain, 15,696 participants assessed for gestational diabetes mellitus, and 72,938 participants assessed for pre-eclampsia. Based on vote counts in the direction of effect, the relationship between dairy consumption and the above outcomes tended to be neutral.Conclusions: Dairy consumption during pregnancy was not clearly associated with common pregnancy complications. Additional high-quality research is warranted to confirm our conclusion.

Automated summary

This study examined the relationship between dairy consumption during pregnancy and pregnancy complications. Based on the analysis of multiple studies, there seems to be a neutral association between dairy consumption and gestational weight gain, gestational diabetes mellitus, and pre-eclampsia.