Vitamin D Deficiency in Pregnancy and Its Association With Maternal Complications.

Abstract

Introduction: Vitamin D deciency and insufciency have been associated with a variety of adverse maternal and fetal outcomes, ranging from Gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, preterm delivery, intrauterine growth restriction, and cesarean section. The study was done to determine whether vitamin D deciency in pregnant women was associated with complications. Methods: In this prospective observational study, vitamin D levels were estimated in 100 pregnant women from gestational age 32 to 40 weeks in a teaching hospital in Delhi, India. All the subjects were further followed up for the appearance of pregnancy associated complications mostly focusing on the appearance of Gestational Hypertension, Pre-eclampsia, Gestational Diabetes, IUGR, Preterm labour or landing up in Caesarean section. Results: 84% had suboptimal vitamin D level i.e serum vitamin D < 30ng/ml. Common complications were gestational hypertension (47%), caesarean section (47%) and gestational diabetes (41%). Signicantly low vitamin D levels were found in women with obstetric complications as compared to controls with no complications. Also, signicant association was found between suboptimal vitamin D levels and complications. Conclusion: The routine measurement of vitamin D in pregnancy can be of great help in identifying patients at risk for development of these complications, early intervention and prevention of occurrence of these complications. Cost effective and timely treatment can prevent the complications in expecting mothers