{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,11]],"date-time":"2026-07-11T02:23:03Z","timestamp":1783736583034,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,15]],"date-time":"2026-06-15T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781481600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background\/Objectives: Adequate micronutrient intake during pregnancy is critical for fetal development, yet whether pregnant women and healthcare professionals share consistent knowledge, beliefs, and supplementation practices remains poorly characterized. Methods: Two parallel cross-sectional surveys using identical core items were conducted at a German tertiary care center between April and November 2024. Pregnant women (n = 132) and healthcare professionals who initiated the survey (n = 105) completed anonymous QR-code-based questionnaires assessing micronutrient-related knowledge, perceived dietary adequacy, and supplementation practices or recommendation patterns. Comparative analyses were restricted to fully completed healthcare professional questionnaires (n = 80). Group differences were analyzed using chi-square or Fisher\u2019s exact tests. Results: Healthcare professionals demonstrated higher knowledge levels across most micronutrients. Knowledge gaps were most pronounced for vitamin B12, with 53.0% of pregnant women unable to identify any fetal effect compared with 20.0% of providers (p &lt; 0.001). Beliefs about dietary sufficiency were broadly aligned for folic acid (p = 0.452) and vitamin D (p &gt; 0.999), but diverged markedly for vitamin B12, where 79.2% of providers considered dietary intake alone adequate compared with 47.3% of pregnant women (p &lt; 0.001). Substantial differences were observed between patient-reported supplementation practices and provider-reported recommendation patterns: Vitamin B12 (70.0% vs. 3.8%), vitamin D (76.2% vs. 41.3%), omega-3 fatty acids (76.2% vs. 47.5%), and folic acid (98.5% vs. 81.3%; all p &lt; 0.001). The internet was the most frequently cited information source among pregnant women (89.4%), while healthcare professionals reported using both scientific literature (75.0%) and internet-based resources (76.3%), the latter primarily for accessing professional and scientific information. Conclusions: Substantial patient\u2013provider differences in micronutrient knowledge, beliefs, and supplementation practices persist even within a highly educated population at a tertiary care center. These findings suggest potential differences between patient-reported supplementation behavior and provider-reported recommendation practices, particularly for vitamin B12 and vitamin D. These findings suggest that more structured communication regarding micronutrient supplementation during pregnancy is needed.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18121934","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,15]],"date-time":"2026-06-15T15:00:48Z","timestamp":1781535648000},"page":"1934","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Differences in Micronutrient Knowledge, Beliefs, and Supplementation Practices Between Pregnant Women and Healthcare Providers: A Cross-Sectional Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-1620-5577","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anna Elisabeth","family":"Hentrich","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Perinatal Medicine, University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60596 Frankfurt, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"D\u00f6rthe","family":"Br\u00fcggmann","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Perinatal Medicine, University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60596 Frankfurt, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Samira Catharina","family":"Hoock","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Perinatal Medicine, University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60596 Frankfurt, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lukas","family":"Jennewein","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Perinatal Medicine, University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60596 Frankfurt, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Frank","family":"Louwen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Perinatal Medicine, University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60596 Frankfurt, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-2283-9082","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Eileen","family":"Deuster","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Obstetrics and Perinatal Medicine, University Hospital Frankfurt am Main, Goethe University Frankfurt, 60596 Frankfurt, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,15]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"CD008873","article-title":"Vitamin D supplementation for women during pregnancy","volume":"2019","author":"Palacios","year":"2019","journal-title":"Cochrane Database Syst. 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