Vitamin D Status in Mothers and their Newborns in a Tertiary Care Center in Mumbai: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Indian population has a paradoxically high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency. Maternal vitamin D levels are related to outcomes of pregnancy for mother and foetus. To understand the need for screening and appropriate management decisions, data is needed from various regions of India to explore the magnitude of the problem. Aim: To evaluate the vitamin D levels in pregnant mothers and their newborns at a hospital catering to the affluent population in Mumbai. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from August to December 2012. A hundred women of Indian origin, between 20-45 years of age and their newborns who were delivered at the Lilavati Hospital and Research Centre in Mumbai were included. Determination of 25 (OH) vitamin D, serum calcium, albumin concentration was done in mothers just before delivery and newborns venous cord blood at the time of delivery. Pearson's correlation test was used for determining relation between maternal and newborns vitamin D levels and Chi square test for association of maternal vitamin D levels with their sun exposure and newborns birth weight. Results: The distribution of serum 25 (OH) vitamin D status in mothers was 75 deficient (75%), 13 insufficient (13%) and 12 sufficient (12%). Mean serum 25 (OH) vitamin D in mothers was 15.09 ng/mL. The distribution of serum 25 (OH) vitamin D levels in newborns were 78 deficient (78%), 13 insufficient (13%) and 9 sufficient (9%). Mean serum 25 (OH) vitamin D in neonates was 13.82 ng/mL. There was strong correlation between maternal and newborns serum 25 (OH) vitamin D levels with a Pearson correlation coefficient value of 0.94 and the p-value of <0.001. Conclusion: There was a high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in pregnant mothers associated with hypovitaminosis D in newborns in this hospital based study catering to affluent population from Mumbai.