Vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy at term: risk factors and pregnancy outcomes

Background: Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy is a worldwide epidemic. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency, its predictive factors and the association with pregnancy outcomes. Materials and methods: This was a prospective observational study in a tertiary teaching hospital over 2-years' duration from August 2013 to August 2015. A total of 680 women who completed 37 weeks of pregnancy were recruited. Results: Five hundred and seventy-five patients were enrolled in the final analysis for pregnancy outcomes (response rate of 84.6%). There were 71.7% patients who exhibited vitamin D deficiency, 21.0% vitamin D insufficiency and only 7.3% who had adequate levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25-OH-vit D) of more than 30 ng/mL. There was no statistically significant association between vitamin D status with maternal (parity, gestational diabetes mellitus, hypertension, preeclampsia, intrauterine growth restriction, preterm labor, antenatal infection, bacterial vaginosis and anemia) and neonatal outcomes (low birth weight baby and neonatal intensive care unit admission) among the three groups. Conclusion: A high prevalence of low vitamin D level among pregnant women at term was seen in this study, however, there was no significant finding observed between vitamin D status and both maternal and neonatal outcomes.