Vitamin D in the maternal-fetal-neonatal interface:

Clinical implications and requirements for supplementation.

J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med. 2012 Nov 6.
Marshall I, Mehta R, Petrova A.
Department of Pediatrics, UMDNJ/Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, New Jersey 08903.

Identification of the current evidence regarding the pathophysiological and clinical facets of vitamin D in the maternal-fetal-neonatal interface is of value because of the significance of the vitamin D endocrine system in human health and high prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in mothers and their infants.

Although many questions have still not been answered by the existing literature, we found evidence that:

• (i) during pregnancy vitamin D participates in fetal skeletal mineralization and growth,
• (ii) neonatal vitamin D level are dependent on the maternal vitamin D status at delivery,
• (iii) a vitamin D sufficient status at birth may decrease the risk for the development of asthma and type 1 diabetes mellitus in later life,
• (iv) recommendations for maintaining serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels >32 ng/mL to avoid secondary hyperparathyroidism in adults has not been applied to mothers and their infants,
• (v) American Academy of Pediatrics recommended supplementation of 400 IU of vitamin D per day is sufficient only for infants who are born with normal vitamin D levels,
• (vii) supplementation of lactating mothers with high doses of vitamin D (4,000 IU /d) allows the achievement of optimal 25(OH)D concentrations (>32 ng/mL)
  in the maternal and infant serum without any risk of hypervitaminosis D in the mother.

We believe that inconsistency in the recognition of sufficient levels of vitamin D in mothers and their infants affects the identification of adequate doses for vitamin D supplementation during pregnancy, lactation, and infancy.

PMID: 23131182
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See also Vitamin D Life

• 10,000 Finnish children got 2000 IU chart
• 1950's-1964 Finnish children got 4000+ IU chart
• All items in category Infants and Children and vitamin D 606 items
• Infants born early had low vitamin D levels – Oct 2012
• Infants again found to need more than 400 IU of vitamin D – Sept 2012
• Infants receiving 1600 IU of vitamin D were safe and healthy – Aug 2012
• Unsupplemented infants were 19X more likely to be vitamin D deficient - May 2012