Cord vitamin D levels in newborns and its clinical correlation

Abstract

Vitamin D levels in newborns mainly depend on maternal vitamin D levels and maternal-fetal transfer of Vitamin D and its metabolites during pregnancy. Babies born to mothers with marked Vitamin D deficiency may have neonatal Rickets. There are many factors determining the Vitamin D levels in mother, like skin pigmentation, duration of sunlight exposure, body mass index, degree of altitude, clothing, sunscreen use, weather, air pollution, season and time of the day. Mothers with light - colored skin require a lesser duration of exposure as compared to mothers with dark-colored skin. If left untreated, children can develop hypocalcemic seizures, growth failure, irritability, lethargy, respiratory infections, and allergies, tetany, and laryngospasm and even dilated cardiomyopathy. Hence we performed this study to evaluated the role of cord vitamin D levels. Methods this was a prospective observational study performed on term neonates weighing > 2.5 kg. Cord vitamin D was estimated at birth, and correlated with various maternal parameters such as anaemia, sun exposure, co-morbidities etc. Results: the mean cord vitamin D levels were low in those babies born to mothers with anaemia, lack of pre-natal supplementation of vitamin D and calcium, as well as less sun exposure. Conclusion: Cord vitamin D could be a marker of vitamin D deficiency in neonates born to mothers with risk factors like anaemia, lack of sun exposure and supplementation.