Vitamin Angels expands reach to 2 million pregnant women in 2019

18-Dec-2019 - Last updated on 18-Dec-2019 at 17:56 GMT

Vitamin Angels

The charity helped reached more than 70 million children in about 70 countries, including the US, with the vital nutrients they need as a foundation for good health.

Vitamin Angels is on a mission to help at-risk pregnant women, new mothers, and children under age five gain access to vitamins and minerals. Domestically, Vitamin Angels partnered with more than 330 local nonprofits in every state and reached over 200,000 underserved pregnant women with their multiple micronutrient supplement (MMS) program.

Recently Vitamin Angels made significant strides toward its goal of eliminating newborn mortality globally by escalating its MMS program. The organization went from reaching 500,000 pregnant women in 2018 to more than 2 million women in 2019.

“We have made astounding progress this year in advancing women’s access to prenatal multivitamins,” said Howard Schiffer, Vitamin Angels founder and president. “Besides growing our reach to 2 million pregnant women in the US and around the world, we are also conducting implementation research that will further inform MMS scale up globally. Our goal still remains strong: to see a world where every woman has a right to a healthy pregnancy and a healthy, thriving baby!”

With 25 years under their belt, Vitamin Angels is also focused on ensuring a global supply of MMS. In order to do so, the organization catalyzed efforts to develop an open-access MMS specification document that can be used to produce standardized, internationally accepted, quality MMS product. The product specification is currently under review by an independent panel of technical experts.

Throughout the year Vitamin Angels participates in global advocacy events at international meetings. Some of those events include Women Deliver and the Asian Congress of Nutrition. These events give the organization an opportunity to achieve demand for MMS as well as influencing policy change in low and middle-income countries.

Vitamin Angels corporate partners also achieved impactful milestones in 2019. As a partner since 2013, Walgreens reached over 200 million at-risk pregnant mothers and children with essential nutrients this year. Other corporate partner milestones included: The Vitamin Shoppe reached 50 million beneficiaries, SmartyPants reached 10 million children (and set a new goal to reach 100 million children moving forward) and Sprouts Farmers Market achieved their milestone of reaching 10 million at-risk pregnant women and children with essential nutrients.

Vitamin Angels scored 98/100 overall on Charity Navigator.