Delivery Vehicles for Prenatal Calcium Supplementation

The traditional tablets will be swallowed with liquid. Each tablet will contain 500 mg of calcium (as calcium carbonate), thus participants will be asked to take 3 per day.. Participants will be asked to take the tablets with a liquid of their choosing with a meal. Traditional tablets will function as a control in this study, as they represent what is widely available on the market in Bangladesh.

Chewable tablets are chewed in the absence of additional water. Each chewable tablet will contain 300 mg of calcium (as calcium carbonate), thus participants will be asked to take 5 per day. Participants will be asked to consume the chewable tablets with a meal.

The unflavoured powder with suspension agent will be tasteless and consumed by either adding it to a semi-solid food or drink of one's choosing. Appropriate foods for mixing with the powder will be at the discretion of the participants. This vehicle was selected on the basis that it would be easy to swallow, given the nausea associated with pregnancy. A similar product is Sprinkles, a multiple micronutrient powder developed at SickKids by Dr. Zlotkin.

The flavoured powder with suspension agent will be consumed by adding it to clean water with a meal. This vehicle was also selected on the basis that it would be easy to swallow, given the nausea associated with pregnancy. Similar products include oral rehydration salts or artificial juice flavour crystals.