Vitamin D Status in Pregnant Women and Their Newborns in Karaj: A Cross-Sectional Study in Iran

Background pregnant women and newborns are at risk of vitamin d deficiency. this study aimed to determine the vitamin d status in pregnant women and their newborns in karaj, iran. materials and methods this cross-sectional study was conducted from march 2014 to october 2015. a total of 151 pregnant women and 154 newborns (three twin cases) were included in the study. after obtaining 5 ml venous blood samples from mothers and 5 ml blood from the umbilical cord of newborns, 25-hydroxy vitamin d [25(oh)d] was measured by elisa method. serum level of 25 (oh)d below 20 ng/ml was considered deficiency, 21-29 ng/ml was considered insufficient and 30- 100 ng/ml was considered sufficient. data were analyzed using spss software version 20.0. results the prevalence of vitamin d deficiency and its insufficiency was 93.5% and 6.5% for pregnant women, 94.2% and 3.9% for newborns, respectively. the mean 25(oh)d concentration in pregnant women and newborns was estimated to be 10.649±5.967 ng/ml and 10.574±6.280 ng/ml, respectively. there was a significant correlation between the mean 25(oh)d concentration in mothers and their newborns (r=0.913 and p<0.001); 92.9% of mothers and their newborns had vitamin d deficiency simultaneously. conclusion the results of this study showed that overall prevalence of vitamin d deficiencies (levels <30 ng/ml) in pregnant women and their newborns was estimated to be 100% and 98.1%, respectively and mean concentration of 25(oh)d for pregnant women and their newborns is very low. therefore, vitamin d deficiency should be considered as a serious health priority.