Investigation of serum vitamin D levels in term newborns and their mothers

Objective: Vitamin D has effects on a large number of organs and systems, starting from the intrauterine period. Its severe deficiency during the neonatal and childhood period leads to a disease called the Rickets. The etiology of many other diseases is also attributed to Vitamin D deficiency. Therefore, in this report we review the topic of Vitamin D deficiency among pregnant women and neonates, which we believe represents a significant public health issue. Material and Method: In this study, we prospectively investigated healthy mothers, who gave birth vaginally or by cesarean section during the 37th to 42nd weeks of gestation at the Duzce University Medical faculty Hospital, and their term babies. We investigated the correlation between the serum vitamin D levels of the mother and the baby and the baby's percentiles, and the reflections of this deficiency on the babies from the mothers with vitamin D deficiency. Conducting a survey, we questioned the mothers' educational status, age, socioeconomic level, occupation, features of the house they live in, nutritional behaviors, presence or absence of additional disorders and use of medication, use of multivitamins, presence of previous vitamin D deficiency diagnosis, duration of daily sun exposure, use of sun protection creams, and the history of headwear use. Results: Serum vitamin D levels of 45 mothers and 45 babies were investigated. Based on the recommendations of the American Pediatrics Academy, a value ≤15 ng/mL was considered to represent vitamin D deficiency while a value of 15.0 – 20.0 ng/mL indicated insufficiency with normal values being accepted as 20 – 100 ng/mL. The mean vitamin D level was 13.4 ng/mL among the participating mothers. While only 8 mothers (17.8%) had a normal vitamin D level, 32 mothers (71.1%) had deficiency and 5 mothers (11.1%) had insufficiency. The mean vitamin D level of the participating babies was 8.6 ng/mL. While there were no babies with a normal vitamin D level, 39 babies (86.7%) had deficiency and 6 babies had (13.3%) insufficiency. There were no cases of Rickets or hypervitaminosis. There was a statistically significant correlation between the vitamin D levels of the mothers and babies. This result indicates that one of the major causes of the vitamin D deficiency in neonates is the vitamin D deficiency in the mothers. Conclusion: If applicable, D vitamin level should be investigated in mothers prior to planning of pregnancy and treatment initiated in case of deficiency; if this is not applicable, vitamin D level should be evaluated as a routine control parameter during pregnancy. We believe that timely diagnosis and treatment of vitamin D deficiency of the mother could prevent potential vitamin D deficiency in the baby. The simplest way of preventing vitamin D deficiency is adequate exposure of the mother and the baby to the sun. We believe that the mothers, who do not expose themselves to the sun adequately, also do not get their babies out in the sun, causing an increase in the risk of vitamin D deficiency. With respect to prevention of vitamin D deficiency, it would be beneficial to inform mothers on the benefits of the sunlight, and explain them when and how to get their babies out in the sun. Keywords: Vitamin D, pregnancy, cord blood, neonate.