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Introduction
Vitamin D deficiency is suspected to be a public health problem in many parts of the world. In
addition, vitamin D deficiency is thought to be common among pregnant women and is associated
with an increased risk of pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes and preterm births.
Objective - To determine the vitamin D status of antenatal women in the last trimester of pregnancy.
Methods
Design - Cross sectional study.
Biochemical screening of vitamin D status was carried out for one hundred pregnant women in their
last trimester. Necessary permission was obtained from the Obstetric department of Sri
Ramachandra University. Informed consent was obtained from the subjects. Blood samples from
subjects were tested for 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH) D) by chemiluminescence immunoassay at
SRMC Biochemical laboratory.
· Vitamin D deficiency - [25(OH)D] < 20 ng/mL or < 50 nmol/L
· Insufficiency - 25(OH)D between 20-30 ng/mL or 50-75 nmol/L
· Sufficiency - 25(OH)D>30 ng/mL or >75 nmol/
Results
Vitamin D levels have been analyzed for 100 subjects of which 67 were found to be Vitamin D
deficient (< 20 ng/ml) 30 were insufficient (between 20-30 ng/ml) and 3 had normal levels of
Vitamin D ( >30 ng/ml).
Conclusion
In view of the high incidence of subnormal vitamin D levels in antenatal women, we recommend
biochemical screening in early pregnancy, with subsequent supplementation where indicated.This
study may throw light on the need of vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy as a public health
intervention for the purpose of improving maternal and infant health outcomes.
Keywords: Vitamin D, Deficiency, Pregnancy.