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Screening and Management of Food Insecurity in Pregnancy

Guest Editors:
Kingsley Agho: Western Sydney University, Australia
Paige van der Pligt: Deakin University, Australia


BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth launched a Collection, “Screening and Management of Food Insecurity in Pregnancy”, to bring together research on identifying pregnant women at risk of food insecurity, addressing food insecurity on the individual level, and health system-level strategies to prevent and mitigate food insecurity in pregnancy. The Collection welcomed quantitative and qualitative research from around the globe and across the full spectrum of maternity care settings.

Meet the Guest Editors

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Kingsley Agho: Western Sydney University, Australia

Kingsley Agho is a world-leading researcher in Global Maternal and Child Health. Kingsley is the Director of Global Maternal and Child Health Research Collaboration (GloMACH) and the founding member of The South Asia Infant Feeding Research Network (SAIFRN). GloMACH and SAIFRN seek to improve infant and young child feeding practices and reduce infant mortality in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa regions. He has contributed significantly to Global Maternal Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) strategy for accelerating progress on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a track record of over 250 peer-reviewed journal articles (Google Scholar H-Index=56 November 2022) including graduating 20 PhD students in the past decade. He is also an Honorary Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Paige van der Pligt: Deakin University, Australia

Dr van der Pligt is a Senior Lecturer in Nutrition and Dietetics at Deakin University, Australia and a Mid Career Researcher in the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition, Deakin University. Her research targets pregnancy nutrition and the short and long-term impact on women’s health. She is passionate about improved nutrition for women during pregnancy through changes to antenatal healthcare services and current healthcare systems globally.

About the collection

Optimal nutrition during pregnancy is crucial for the health of the mother and baby, both during and following pregnancy. Globally, many pregnant women do not achieve adequate nutrition for many reasons and many women experience food insecurity, the absence of safe, nutritious food, both with or without hunger. Food insecurity in pregnancy increases risk for multiple maternal and child health complications. Identifying women who are food insecure and providing stable access to food would reduce adverse pregnancy outcomes and support best nutrition-related maternal and child health. 

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth launched the Collection, “Screening and Management of Food Insecurity in Pregnancy”, to bring together research on identifying pregnant women at risk of food insecurity, addressing food insecurity on the individual level, and health system-level strategies to prevent and mitigate food insecurity in pregnancy. The Collection welcomed quantitative and qualitative research from around the globe and across the full spectrum of maternity care settings.

Image credit: © Gajus / iStock

  1. To examine the effectiveness of nutritional education based on the health action process approach (HAPA) on pregnancy outcomes among malnourished pregnant mothers utilizing nutritional support.

    Authors: Atieh Razzazi, Mark D. Griffiths and Zainab Alimoradi
    Citation: BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2024 24:83
    Content type: Research Published on:

Submission Guidelines

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This Collection welcomes submission of Research Articles, Data Notes, Case Reports, Study Protocols, and Database Articles. Before submitting your manuscript, please ensure you have read our submission guidelines. Articles for this Collection should be submitted via our submission system, Snapp. During the submission process you will be asked whether you are submitting to a Collection, please select ["Screening and Management of Food Insecurity in Pregnancy"] from the dropdown menu.

Articles will undergo the journal’s standard peer-review process and are subject to all of the journal’s standard policies. Articles will be added to the Collection as they are published.

The Guest Editors have no competing interests with the submissions which they handle through the peer review process. The peer review of any submissions for which the Guest Editors have competing interests is handled by another Editorial Board Member who has no competing interests.