Globally neonatal mortality remains a major contributor to under-five mortality.Key factors underlying neonatal mortality are low birthweight and preterm delivery.We compared the impact of antenatal supplementation with multiple micronutrients(MMNs)or iron/folic acid，and supplementation with folic acid alone on birth weight,duration of gestation and pefinatal mortality. In rural populations in China antenatal supplementation with iron/folicacid increased the duration of gestation at delivery and was associated with a reduction inearly neonatal mortality compared to folic acid alone. MMN modestly increasedbirthweight compared to folic acid alone but despite this weight gain, MMN did notsignificantly reduce early neonatal mortality. Further studies with larger sample size areneeded to confirm the mortality-sparing effects observed in this study.