Many pregnant women are deficient when taking the recommended amount of Vitamin D – Jan 2023

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Longitudinal Assessment of Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels during Pregnancy and Postpartum—Are the Current Recommendations for Supplementation Sufficient?

Nutrients 2023, 15, 339. https:// doi.org/10.3390/nu15020339
Pilar Palmrich h*, Alexandra Thajer 2 , Nawa Schirwani 1 , Christina Haberl 1 , Harald Zeisler 1 , Robin Ristl 3 and Julia Binder1©

• Department of Obstetrics and Feto-Maternal Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
• Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine
• Neuropediatrics, Comprehensive Center for Pediatrics, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
• Center for Medical Statistics, Informatics and Intelligent Systems, Medical University of Vienna, 1090 Vienna, Austria
  • Correspondence: pilar.palmrich at meduniwien.ac.at

HDP (hypertensive disorders of pregnancy),
GDM (gestational diabetes mellitus),
IGDM (insulin-dependentgestational diabetes mellitus),
PROM (preterm rupture of membranes),
NICU (neonatal intensive care unit),
RDS (respiratory distress syndrome),
SGA (small for gestational age)

Background: Pregnant women are at risk of vitamin D deficiency. Data on pregnancy outcomes in women with vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy are controversial, and prospective longitudinal data on vitamin D deficiency with consistent definitions in pregnant women are scarce.

Methods: The aim of this prospective longitudinal cohort study was to investigate 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels over the course of pregnancy and postpartum in singleton and twin pregnancies with regard to dietary and supplemental vitamin D intake and environmental factors influencing vitamin D levels, evaluated by a standardized food frequency questionnaire.

Results: We included 198 healthy singleton and 51 twin pregnancies for analysis. A total of 967 study visits were performed over a 3-year period.
Overall,

• 59.5% of pregnant women were classified as vitamin D deficient in the first trimester,
• 54.8% in the second trimester,
• 58.5% in the third trimester,
• 66.9% at birth, and
• 60% 12 weeks postpartum,

even though 66.4% of the study population reported daily pregnancy vitamin intake containing vitamin D. Dietary vitamin D intake did not affect vitamin D levels significantly.

Conclusions: The majority of pregnant women evaluated in this study were vitamin D deficient, despite administration of pregnancy vitamins containing vitamin D. Individualized vitamin D assessment during pregnancy should be considered to ensure adequate supplementation and prevention of hypovitaminosis D.
 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

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This study considers <20 ng to be deficient. Everyone should have 40 ng. including before, during, and after pregnancy

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VitaminDWiki - Pregnancy category contains

961 items in Pregnancy category

 - see also

• Overview Pregnancy and vitamin D
• Number of articles in both categories of Pregnancy and:Dark Skin 30;   Depression 21;   Diabetes 45;   Obesity 18;  Hypertension 44;   Breathing 39;  Omega-3 46;  Vitamin D Receptor 25 Click here for details
• All items in category Infant/Child 888 items
• Pregnancy needs at least 40 ng of vitamin D, achieved by at least 4,000 IU – Hollis Aug 2017
• 38+ papers with Breastfed etc, in the title
• Call to action – more Vitamin D for pregnancies, loading doses are OK – Holick Aug 2019
• 53+ preeclampsia studies
• 94+ studies with PRETERM in the title
• Fertility problem (PCOS) reduced by vitamin D, etc. - many studies 15+
• 94+ Gestational Diabetes
• Caesarean birth much more likely if low Vitamin D - many studies 15+ studies
• Post-partum depression and low Vitamin D - many studies 15+ studies
• Stillbirth reduced by Vitamin D, Zinc, Omega-3 - many studies 5+ studies
• Search VitaminDWiki for "Assisted reproduction" 33 items as of Aug 2022
• Fertility and Sperm category listing has 151 items along with related searches
• (Stunting OR “low birth weight” OR LBW) 1180 items as of June 2020
• Less labor pain if higher level of vitamin D – August 2021
• Healthy pregnancies need lots of vitamin D
• Ensure a healthy pregnancy and baby - take Vitamin D before conception
  

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VitaminDWiki -Healthy pregnancies need lots of vitamin D contains

Most were taking 2,000 to 7,000 IU daily for >50% of pregnancy
   Click on hyperlinks for details

Problem	Vit. D Reduces	Evidence
0. Chance of not conceiving	3.4 times	Observe
1. Miscarriage	2.5 times	Observe
2. Pre-eclampsia	3.6 times	RCT
3. Gestational Diabetes	3 times	RCT
4. Good 2nd trimester sleep quality	3.5 times	Observe
5. Premature birth	2 times	RCT
6. C-section - unplanned	1.6 times	Observe
Stillbirth - OMEGA-3	4 times	RCT - Omega-3
7. Depression AFTER pregnancy	1.4 times	RCT
8. Small for Gestational Age	1.6 times	meta-analysis
9. Infant height, weight, head size      within normal limits		RCT
10. Childhood Wheezing	1.3 times	RCT
11. Additional child is Autistic	4 times	Intervention
12.Young adult Multiple Sclerosis	1.9 times	Observe
13. Preeclampsia in young adult	3.5 times	RCT
14. Good motor skills @ age 3	1.4 times	Observe
15. Childhood Mite allergy	5 times	RCT
16. Childhood Respiratory Tract visits	2.5 times	RCT

RCT = Randomized Controlled Trial

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VitaminDWiki – Infant-Child category has 888 items and contains

• No consensus on MINIMUM International Units (IU) for healthy infant of normal weight
• 400 IU Vitamin D is no longer enough
  Was OK in the past century, but D levels have been dropping for a great many reasons.
  FDA doubles the amount of vitamin D permitted in milk – July 2016
• No consensus: range is 600 to 1600 IU – based on many randomized controlled trials
• Review of 400 IU to 2000 IU daily and higher if non-daily
• Fewer pre-infants were vitamin D deficient when they got 800 IU – RCT Feb 2014
• 1600 IU was the conclusion of three JAMA studies
     1000 IU recommended in France and Finland – 2013 - appears to be a good level
• 5X less mite allergy after add vitamin D
• Child bone fractures with low vitamin D were 55X more likely to need surgery
• 75 % of SIDS had low vitamin D
• Children stayed in ICU 3.5 days longer if low vitamin D – Dec 2015
• 5 out of 6 children who died in pediatric critical care unit had low vitamin D – May 2014
• Infants have gotten free 400 IU of vitamin D in Turkey since 2005, More for longer would be even better – Feb 2022
• Preemies should have vitamin D supplements – reaching an agreement – April 2021
• Vitamin D loading dose was as effective as daily dosing (rickets in this case) – RCT July 2021

Having a good level of vitamin D cuts in half the amount of:

• Asthma, Chronic illness, Doctor visits, Allergies, infection
  Respiratory Tract Infection, Growing pains, Bed wetting

Need even more IUs of vitamin D to get a good level if;

• Have little vitamin D: premie, twin, mother did not get much sun access
• Get little vitamin D: dark skin, little access to sun
• Vitamin D is consumed faster than normal due to sickness
• Older (need at least 100 IU/kilogram, far more if obese)
• Not get any vitamin D from formula (breast fed) or (fortified) milk
  Note – formula does not even provide 400 IU of vitamin D daily

Infants-Children need Vitamin D

• Sun is great – well known for 1,000’s of years.
  US govt (1934) even said infants should be out in the sun
• One country recommended 2,000 IU daily for decades – with no known problems
• As with adults, infants and children can have loading doses and rarely need tests
• Daily dose appears to be best, but monthly seems OK
• Vitamin D is typically given to infants in the form of drops
     big difference in taste between brands
     can also use water-soluable form of vitamin D in milk, food, juice,
• Infants have evolved to get a big boost of vitamin D immediately after birth
  Colostrum has 3X more vitamin D than breast milk - provided the mother has any vitamin D to spare
• 100 IU per kg of infant July 2011, Poland etc.
  
  More than 100 IU/kg is probably better
• 888 items in the category Infant/Child See also
• 34 pages in VitaminDWiki had BREASTFE*in title as of Jan 2022
• "BIRTH DEFECTS" 172 items as of July 2016
• Stunting OR “low birth weight” OR LBW OR preemie OR preemies OR preterm 1940 items as of Oct 2018
• 153 VitaminDWiki pages contained PRETERM or PREEMIE in title as of Nov 2024
• "SUDDEN INFANT DEATH" OR SIDS 214 items as of Dec 2020
• Overview of Rickets and Vitamin D
• Youth category listing has 179 items along with related searches
• Down's syndrome and low vitamin D - several studies
• Rett syndrome associated with low vitamin D, treated by Omega-3