Vitamin D supplementation for women during pregnancy
Luz Maria De-Regil1, Cristina Palacios2, Lia K Lombardo3, Juan Pablo Peña-Rosas4,*
Editorial Group: Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group
Published Online: 14 JAN 2016, DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD008873.pub3
1Micronutrient Initiative, Research and Evaluation, Ottawa, ON, Canada
2University of Puerto Rico, Nutrition Program, Department of Human Development, Graduate School of Public Health, San Juan, Puerto Rico
3Indiana University School of Medicine, General Surgery, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
4World Health Organization, Evidence and Programme Guidance, Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, Geneva, Switzerland
- Juan Pablo Peña-Rosas, Evidence and Programme Guidance, Department of Nutrition for Health and Development, World Health Organization, 20 Avenue Appia, Geneva, 1211, Switzerland. penarosasj at who.int. juanpablopenarosas at outlook.com.
Clipped from the summary
- With respect to infant outcomes, data from three trials involving 477 women suggest that vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy reduces the risk preterm birth compared to no intervention or placebo (8.9% versus 15.5%; RR 0.36; 95% CI 0.14 to 0.93, moderate quality).
- Data from three trials involving 493 women also suggest that women who receive vitamin D supplements during pregnancy less frequently had a baby with a birthweight below 2500 g than those receiving no intervention or placebo (RR 0.40; 95% CI 0.24 to 0.67, moderate quality).
See Vitamin D Life: Healthy pregnancies need lots of vitamin D
which has the following summary (click on underlined items for details)
Problem | Vit. D Reduces | Evidence |
| 0. Chance of not conceiving | 3.4 times | Observe |
| 1. Miscarriage | 2.5 times | Observe |
| 2. Pre-eclampsia | 3.6 times | RCT |
| 3. Gestational Diabetes | 3 times | RCT |
| 4. Good 2nd trimester sleep quality | 3.5 times | Observe |
| 5. Premature birth | 2 times | RCT |
| 6. C-section - unplanned | 1.6 times | Observe |
| Stillbirth - OMEGA-3 | 4 times | RCT - Omega-3 |
| 7. Depression AFTER pregnancy | 1.4 times | RCT |
| 8. Small for Gestational Age | 1.6 times | meta-analysis |
| 9. Infant height, weight, head size within normal limits | RCT | |
| 10. Childhood Wheezing | 1.3 times | RCT |
| 11. Additional child is Autistic | 4 times | Intervention |
| 12.Young adult Multiple Sclerosis | 1.9 times | Observe |
| 13. Preeclampsia in young adult | 3.5 times | RCT |
| 14. Good motor skills @ age 3 | 1.4 times | Observe |
| 15. Childhood Mite allergy | 5 times | RCT |
| 16. Childhood Respiratory Tract visits | 2.5 times | RCT |
RCT = Randomized Controlled Trial
See also Vitamin D Life
- Vitamin D Random Controlled Trials are becoming impossible
- WHO still says mistakenly says NO vitamin D during pregnancy, and only 200 IU after
Note the lead author works at the World Health Organization - Vitamin D deficiency is a major global public health problem – Maps Nov 2013
Note: She is a co-author of this Chochran report - Cochrane review finds that Vitamin D helps prevent fractures– downloaded Feb 2010
- Scalp psoriasis – Vitamin D was a component of every successful topical treatment – Cochrane Feb 2016
- Even small amounts of Vitamin D prevent mortality in adults – Cochrane Review Jan 2014
- Pregnancy – Cochrane review – pure junk - Jan 2016 previous review of report on Vitamin D Life
Cochrane failed to consider trials
- With daily doses of more than 2,000 IU
2000 IU had been the upper limit in the US
8 trials used < 1000 IU, 6 trials 1000-2000 IU - With Vitamin D dosing before week 20
thus not documenting the huge benefits when vitamin D is started early - With daily dose sizes which varied per person ( vitamin D level, obesity, etc)
- That gave vitamin D to everyone (control = others)
many trials now consider it unethical to not give vitamin D to everyone - Of women with Gestational Diabetes
Note: 2X decrease in Gestational Diabetes with lots of vitamin D - Which used additional supplements – such as Omega-3 or Magnesium
- Which used loading doses
which gives people a good level of vitamin D as soon as possible
Page 17 shows how little vitamin D was used
Download the Cochrane PDF with Vitamin D Life highlights
Intervention AND Pregnancy trials in Vitamin D Life (most of which are ignored by Cochrane)
- 4,000 IU of daily Vitamin D during pregnancy is good (Mongolia this time) – RCT Oct 2023
- Resulting childhood Asthma cut in half if 4,400 IU Vitamin D (5 ways to improve it) - RCT April 2023
- 6,400 IU of Vitamin D is safe and effective during breastfeeding – RCT Dec, 2020
- Vitamin D during pregnancy – single 200,000 IU similar to daily 5,000 IU – April 2020
- Massive improvement in vaginal microbiome during pregnancy with Vitamin D – March 2019
- Autism risk reduced 2X by prenatal vitamins (Vitamin D or Folic) – Feb 2019
- Fetal bones helped a bit by 1,000 IU of vitamin D – RCT Feb 2019
- Adding 1,000 IU vitamin D while pregnant did not help much (no surprise) – RCT Jan 2019
- Pregnancies helped a lot by Vitamin D (injection then 50,000 IU monthly) – RCT May 2018
- 430 genes changed when 3,800 IU Vitamin D added in late second trimester – RCT May 2018
- 300,000 IU of Vitamin D is not enough during pregnancy – RCT May 2018
- Preeclampsia risk reduced 7X by 4,000 IU of Vitamin D daily – RCT March 2018
- Risk of infant Asthma cut in half if mother supplemented Vitamin D to get more than 30 ng – RCT Oct 2017
- Gestational diabetes 30 percent less likely if consumed more than 400 IU of vitamin D daily – Oct 2017
- Monthly 120,000 IU Vitamin D plus daily Calcium was great during pregnancies – RCT Sept 2017
- Preterm birth rate reduced by vitamin D – 78 percent if non-white, 39 percent if white – July 2017
- 1,000 IU of Vitamin D while pregnant helped a little bit (4,000 IU helps a lot) – RCT Dec 2016
- Preeclampsia recurrence reduced 2 X by 50,000 IU of vitamin D every two weeks – RCT July 2017
- Only a select group of women will get a modest benefit from 800 IU of vitamin D – Jan 2017
- Reduction of infant asthma may require good vitamin D when lung development starts (4 weeks) – March 2017
- Gestational diabetes treated by Vitamin D plus Omega-3 – RCT Feb 2017
- 3,800 IU Vitamin D during pregnancy did not help much – RCT Jan 2017
- 50,000 IU of vitamin D for 8 weeks of pregnancy raised most above 30 nanograms - RCT Jan 2017
- Gestational Diabetes reduce 3 times by 5,000 IU of Vitamin D – RCT Jan 2016
- Preeclampsia risk reduced by higher levels of vitamin D (VDAART 4,400 IU) - RCT Nov 2016
- Gestational Diabetes treated with 50,000 IU every two weeks – RCT Sept 2016
- Perinatal depression decreased 40 percent with just a few weeks of 2,000 IU of vitamin D – RCT Aug 2016
- Pregnancy – adding 35,000 IU Vitamin D weekly was nice, but not enough – RCT April 2016
- Vitamin D once during pregnancy reduced infant health care costs (300 times ROI) – RCT Dec 2015
- Autism rate in siblings reduced 4X by vitamin D: 5,000 IU during pregnancy, 1,000 IU to infants – Feb 2016
- Preterm birth rate reduced 57 percent by Vitamin D – Nov 2015
- Pregnancy supplemented with 2,000 IU vitamin D got most infants to more than 12 nanograms – Aug 2015
- Preeclampsia reduced by Vitamin D (50,000 IU bi-weekly) and Calcium – Oct 2015
- Clinical trials for pregnancy with Vitamin D intervention – 51 as of Sept 2015
- No multiple sclerosis relapses during pregnancy if 50,000 IU of Vitamin D weekly – RCT April 2015
- Wheezing reduced 35 percent if vitamin D added during pregnancy – April 2015
- 4,000 IU raised vitamin D levels during pregnancy – July 2014
- Pregnant mothers in Quatar needed more than weekly 50,000 IU Vitamin D – Nov 2013
- Gestational diabetes – Vitamin D and Calcium provided huge benefits – RCT March 2015
- Pregnancy helped by single dose of 60,000 IU of Vitamin D – RCT March 2015
- Gestational diabetes reduced by just two 50,000 IU doses of vitamin D – RCT Nov 2014
- Improved births with 2,000 IU vitamin D during pregnancy in India - RCT Feb 2015
- 50,000 IU of Vitamin D every 2 weeks reduced gestational diabetes – RCT Feb 2015
- Infant much healthier if Gestational Diabetic mother got 2 doses of vitamin D – RCT Nov 2014
- 2000 IU vitamin D during pregnancy and 800 IU to infant resulted in less use of antibiotics – RCT April 2014
- Gestational Diabetes reduced with 50,000 IU of vitamin D every 3 weeks and daily Calcium – RCT June 2014
- Gestational Diabetes reduced 40 percent by 5,000 IU of vitamin D – RCT April 2014
- 5,000 IU Vitamin D was not enough to reduce preeclampsia but did help future infant – RCT April 2014
- Breast milk resulted in 20 ng of vitamin D for infant if mother had taken 5,000 IU daily – RCT Dec 2013
- Vitamin D intervention for 8 weeks of pregnancy: infants taller, heavier and bigger heads – RCT Oct 2013