Publication:

Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy and its relation with adverse pregnancy outcome

Background Vitamin D deficiency is widely prevalent in all parts of the world. Pregnant women and neonates are highly vulnerable to vitamin D deficiency. Pregnant women receive very less amount of sunlight especially in parts of Southeast Asia due to traditional norms and customs. A strong positive correlation was found between low maternal vitamin D levels with gestational hypertension/preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, preterm labour, low birth weight, intra uterine growth restriction, neonatal intensive care unit admission and Apgar score. Therefore, the present study was designed to know the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in pregnant females and to evaluate adverse effects associated with it.

Methods Total 250 nulliparous pregnant females attending Tirath Ram Shah Hospital for delivery and carrying a viable (>/28 weeks) singleton pregnancy were selected. Women with serum 25-hydroxy vitamin D level <10 ng/ml, 10-20 ng/ml and <20 ng/ml, were diagnosed as vitamin D deficient, insufficient and sufficient groups respectively and the adverse outcomes was correlated.

Results In this study, out of 250 cases, 159 cases (63.6%) had vitamin D deficiency, 43 cases (17.2%) had insufficiency, and 48 cases (19.2%) had sufficient vitamin D levels (vitamin D ≥20 ng/ml). And, Vitamin D deficiency was associated with preeclampsia, preterm labour and increased risk of caesarean section.

Conclusions This study indicates that vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in pregnant females thus implicating the need of a uniform strategy of vitamin D supplementation to pregnant females.