The Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said it has published a free educational brochure, as well as launched a smartphone app and Facebook page, to give women access to more information about pregnancy.
According to Ministry of the Interior statistics, 211,399 babies were born in Taiwan last year.
A 29-year-old pregnant woman surnamed Peng (彭) said she found it confusing looking for answers on the Internet on how to relieve discomfort during the early stages of pregnancy because there are too many different answers from various sources. The HPA said many pregnant women expressed similar frustrations.
The agency said the brochure is available in six languages, with more than 100 pages of practical information, such as healthy eating and fitness during pregnancy, fact sheets, examination schedules and postnatal resources.
The agency said that last month it launched a series of online activities on its Facebook page, including a question-and-answer session, that more than 1,000 people responded to.
A 10-question quiz about pregnancy, based on the contents of the brochure, was posted online, it said, adding that while the accuracy rates were about 100 percent for nine out of 10 questions, many people did not know that salt is a source of iodine.
The agency said severe iodine deficiency during pregnancy can have negative effects on fetal brain development, slow growth, cause neurodevelopmental impairment, or even increase the chances of infant mortality.
While the recommended daily iodine intake for adults is 0.2mg, the HPA suggests a daily intake of 0.25mg for women who are breast feeding.
The agency encouraged pregnant women to make use of the brochure, or visit the Web site mammy.hpa.gov.tw, its Facebook page www.facebook.com/mammy.hpa or download the app for more information.
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