**Abstract**

The authors report selenium deficiency in pregnant women, which can lead to an increase in the frequency and severity of early and late gestosis, fetal hypotrophy, hypoxia, and increased risk of miscarriage. The provision of selenium in children depends on the degree of maturity and physical development, decreases with fetal hypotrophy, prematurity, artificial feeding, and hypoxia. The content of selenium in breast milk of women who gave birth prematurely, contains selenium three times less than in normal childbirth, which contributes to a high risk of alimentarydependent conditions in premature infants.

**Keywords:** selenium, children, pregnant women, reproduction, placenta, breast milk

## **1. Introduction**

Pregnancy is a period of important conditional physiological changes, when the fetus requires a regular and balanced diet provided by the mother's food and its physiological reserves. The intrauterine period, infancy, and early age are considered to be a critical period in terms of the impact of nutrition on subsequent development [1].

For the growth and development of the fetus, normal pregnancy requires a constant consumption of sufficient amounts of nutrients, at least 40 of them are essential for pregnant and lactating women. Nutritional status of pregnant and lactating women is of great importance for the health of the child, as the development of the body is most actively carried out up to 18 months of life.
