Vegan diet 'risks damaging fetus' (2)

(ANSA) - Rome, March 2 - Italian doctors on Friday reported a three-fold increase in cases of vitamin B12 deficiency during pregnancy, with the risk of permanent neurological damage for the unborn child, and said the vegan and vegetarian diets followed by some mothers were among the causes. The alarm was raised by experts from Rome's Bambino Gesù children's hospital and Florence's Meyer hospital following an extensive screening programme.
    They said the number of cases of a deficiency in the important vitamin rose from 42 in 2015 to 126 in 2016.