Vitamin D nutritional status of neonates and pregnant women in Benghazi

The Vitamin D nutritional status of 19 multiparous women and 14 of their newborn infants in Benghazi was assessed by determining 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations in maternal and in maternal and umbilical cord blood, and compared with the normal range established for Norwegian adults and children. Women who had received Vitamin D supplements during pregnancy had significantly higher values of 25-OHD in maternal and cord blood than an unsupplemented group; however, the mean maternal concentration of 25-OHD was in the low normal values, and mean cord-blood level at the lower limits of the normal Norwegian range. Causative factors for the high incidence of neonatal hypocalcemia and infantile rickets observed locally, are discussed