ABSTRACT
Background: Vitamin D deficiency may affect the mother and its new born health
Objective: To detect the frequency of vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women and their newborn of Karachi at tertiary care hospitals, and correlating maternal vitamin D with cord blood
Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 50 women in labor presenting with a singleton term pregnancy at tertiary centers in Karachi. Data was recorded on a special proforma, maternal blood was taken before delivery and cord blood was taken at delivery. All blood samples were analyzed for 25-hydroxy vitamin D levels
Results: The mean vitamin D levels were 24 ng/mL for the mothers and 20 ng/mL for the newborns. Vitamin D sufficiency was noted in 11[22%], insufficiency in 16 [32%], and deficiency in 23 [46%] of the 50 mothers whereas sufficiency and deficiency, were noted in 6 [12%] and 44 [88%] of the newborns respectively. There was a positive correlation between the vitamin D levels in maternal and cord blood [r = 0.03; P=0.003]. Maternal vitamin D levels were significantly affected by sunlight exposure [P =0.007] and quality of diet [P=0.01]
Conclusion: Vitamin D deficiency is high among pregnant urban Pakistani women and their newborns. This public health problem needs urgent attention