Publication:

Estimation of vitamin D levels in low risk and high risk pregnancy and to evaluate maternal and neonatal outcome

Background Vitamin D is linked with various physiological processes involving multiple organ systems and its deficiency is associated with pregnancy complication like pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, preterm delivery and low birth weight babies. The objective of this study was to estimate vitamin D levels in both low risk and high risk pregnant women and to correlate with the maternal and neonatal outcome.

Methods This was a prospective case control study from December 2020 to June 2022 at M. S. Ramaiah Medical College and Hospital, Bengaluru. All pregnant women between 28 weeks and 40 weeks of gestation were included in the study. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method was used for quantitative determination of 25 hydroxy vitamin D in serum of all pregnant women.

Results A total of 166 pregnant women were included in the study, of which 81 subjects were high risk and 85 pregnant women were low risk. The mean vitamin D levels was 19.96 ng/ml in high risk group and 26.8 ng/ml in low risk group and this was statistically significant. In high risk group 23.45% were deficient and in low risk group 12.94% were deficient which was significant. The neonatal birth weight and serum vitamin D levels showed a strong correlation in low risk group as compared to the high risk group.

Conclusions Vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency in pregnancy can lead to complications in both mother and fetus. Estimation of vitamin D levels in pregnancy and supplementation can lead to healthy baby and healthy mother.