March of Dimes pays for study of Vitamin D, but results are behind a paywall -May 2013

Vitamin D and maternal and child health: Overview and implications for dietary requirements

Birth Defects Research Part C: Embryo Today: Reviews, Volume 99, Issue 1, pages 24–44, March 2013
Janet Y. Uriu-Adams 1,
Sarah G. Obican 2,
Carl L. Keen 3,*
1 Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis, Davis, California
2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University, New York, New York
3 Department of Nutrition and Internal Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, California
*Correspondence to: Carl L. Keen, Ph.D., Nutrition Department, University of California, Davis, One Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616. E-mail: clkeen at ucdavis.edu

This review was initiated by the Public Affairs Committee (PAC) of the Teratology Society as a result of the March of Dimes/Public Affairs Committee Symposium “Vitamin D Deficiency in Pregnancy and Neonatal Development” presented at the 51st annual meeting of the Teratology Society, 2012.

The essentiality of vitamin D for normal growth and development has been recognized for over 80 years, and vitamin D fortification programs have been in place in the United States for more than 70 years.

Despite the above, vitamin D deficiency continues to be a common finding in certain population groups.

Vitamin D deficiency has been suggested as a potential risk factor for the development of preeclampsia, and vitamin D deficiency during infancy and early childhood is associated with an increased risk for numerous skeletal disorders, as well as immunological and vascular abnormalities.

Vitamin D deficiency can occur through multiple mechanisms including the consumption of diets low in this vitamin and inadequate exposure to environmental ultraviolet B rays.

The potential value of vitamin D supplementation in high-risk pregnancies and during infancy and early childhood is discussed.

Currently, there is vigorous debate concerning what constitutes appropriate vitamin D intakes during early development as exemplified by differing recommendations from the Institute of Medicine Dietary Reference Intake report and recent recommendations by the Endocrine Society.

As is discussed, a major issue that needs to be resolved is what key biological endpoint should be used when making vitamin D recommendations for the pregnant woman and her offspring.

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Publisher rents PDF for $6

See also Vitamin D Life

• Birth Defects – March of Dimes Global Report (does not even mention Vitamin D) – Jan 2015
• Overview Pregnancy and vitamin D which has the following summary
  

  IU	Cumulative Benefit	Blood level	Cofactors	Calcium	$*/month
  200	Better bones for mom with 600 mg of Calcium	6 ng/ml increase	Not needed	No effect	$0.10
  400	Less Rickets (but not zero with 400 IU) 3X less adolescent Schizophrenia Fewer child seizures	20-30 ng/ml	Not needed	No effect	$0.20
  2000	2X More likely to get pregnant naturally/IVF 2X Fewer dental problems with pregnancy 8X less diabetes 4X fewer C-sections (>37 ng) 4X less preeclampsia (40 ng vs 10 ng) 5X less child asthma 2X fewer language problems age 5	42 ng/ml	Desirable	< 750 mg	$1
  4000	2X fewer pregnancy complications 2X fewer pre-term births	49 ng/ml	Should have cofactors	< 750 mg	$3
  6000	Probable: larger benefits for above items Just enough D for breastfed infant More maternal and infant weight		Should have cofactors	< 750 mg	$4