Evaluation of Vitamin D Status and Effective Maternal Factors on Vitamin D Levels in Cord Blood of Infants Born in Zahedan, Iran

Background: the available sources indicate our insufficient knowledge about vitamin d levels in infants born in iran. therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the vitamin d status and effective maternal factors on vitamin d levels in cord blood of neonates born in south-east of iran. materials and methods: this descriptive-cross sectional study was performed on neonates who were born in ali-ibn-abitaleb hospital (zahedan, iran), and their mothers from august 2020 to january 2021. to assess the maternal serum and umbilical cord level of vitamin d, 5 ml of whole blood (umbilical cord blood and maternal venous blood) was evaluated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. the relationship between different levels of the infants’ vitamin d and some maternal vitamin d deficiency factors were evaluated. results: a total of 190 pregnant women & 190 infants participated in this study. the mean serum level of vitamin d in newborns was 37.90 ngr/ml, of which 41(21.8%) were vitamin d deficient. vitamin d status of neonatal cord blood was significantly related to using vitamin d supplements by mother during pregnancy, parity, maternal literacy level, infant gender, maternal exposure to sunlight and maternal vitamin d status (p<0.05 for all). conclusion: our study showed that using vitamin d supplements by mother during pregnancy, parity, maternal literacy level, infant gender, maternal exposure to sunlight and maternal vitamin d status are related to the infants’ vitamin d status. further research is needed to determine the reason behind some established relationships in the present research including the relationship between parity and vitamin d in neonates.