Vitamin D supplements can prevent premature births

TORONTO - Taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy is not only safe for mother and baby but it can also prevent preterm labour births and infections, says a new study.

In the 1950s and 60s, people were concerned that vitamin D could cause birth defects, according to Carol L. Wagner, lead study author and paediatric researcher at the Medical University of South Carolina.

It is now known that vitamin D is important for maternal and infant health, including bone health and immune function. Recent studies have shown that vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is a serious public health issue.

Therefore, she and her colleagues, including Bruce W. Hollis, who has worked in the field of vitamin D research for 30 years, set out to determine the optimal dose of vitamin D supplements for pregnant women without doing harm.

Researchers randomised 494 pregnant women at 12-16 weeks’ gestation into three treatment groups.

Group one received 400 International Units (IU) of vitamin D a day until delivery, group two received 2,000 IU, and group three received 4,000 IU. The women were evaluated monthly to ensure safety.

“No adverse events related to vitamin D dosing were found in any of the three arms of the study,” Wagner said.

Investigators also looked at the effects of vitamin D supplementation on complications during pregnancy including preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, infections, and preterm labour and birth.

“The spectacular part of the study was it showed women replete in vitamin D had lower rates of preterm labor and preterm birth, and lower rates of infection,” Wagner said.

The greatest effects were seen among women taking 4,000 IU of vitamin D per day. Therefore, the researchers recommend this daily regimen for all pregnant women, said a Medical University release.

These will be presented at the Paediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.