Maternal vitamin D status and association with neonatal anthropometric measures

Abstract

Pregnant women are at risk of developing vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency. Vitamin D status has a great impact on both pregnancy and the fetus. The aim of the study was to evaluate the maternal serum vitamin D level and its impact on the neonatal anthropometric measures. Material and methods. A prospective study among 71 pregnant women aged 19 to 40 years was carried out. Women with a gestation period of 12-15 weeks between October to April were included in this study. A survey of pregnant women was conducted and the maternal serum total vitamin D [25 (OH) D2 and D3] level was determined by enzyme immunoassay. Neonatal anthropometric parameters (weight, body length, weightlength ratio) were measured. Results and discussion. Vitamin D deficiency was observed in 41 (57.7%) of pregnant women, insufficiency - in 7 (9.9%), and the optimal level - in 23 (32.4%) of examined women. Women with vitamin D deficiency were more likely to have a miscarriage in anamnesis than women with optimal D status (OR - 9.06; 95% CI: 1.11-73.86, р=0.0396). We have not established the influence of other factors (age, social status, body mass index, number of pregnancies) on the maternal D-status. There were no significant differences between indicators of weight by age, body length of a child by age, and Apgar scores depending on the vitamin-D status of pregnant women. Conclusion. The study showed that the optimal vitamin D level is observed only in 32.4%, and its deficiency or insufficiency occurs in 67.6% of pregnant women. The study did not reveal the correlation between maternal vitamin-D status and neonatal anthropometric measures. Taking into account the trend towards lower weight-length ratio to gestational age of the newborns from mothers with vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency, further studies are needed.