Maternal Serum Hypovitaminosis-D and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome: Any Correlation?

Abstract

To determine the association between maternal hypovitaminosis D and adverse pregnancy outcomes among Nigerian parturients at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos. A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out between December 2015 and October 2016. Total maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin D level was measured using a solid-phase competitive ELISA. Low serum vitamin D was defined as below 30ng/mL. Univariate analysis was used to show the association between the baseline variables and adverse pregnancy outcomes and multivariate analyses using binary logistic regression models. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was 14.1%. Maternal vitamin D level was positively associated with gestational age at delivery (P=0.012), low birth weight neonates (P=0.004) and primary PPH (P=0.021). No association was shown between serum vitamin D levels and perinatal asphyxia (low 5-minute Apgar, P=0.174). After controlling for gestational age at delivery, level of education, and booking status, low maternal vitamin D levels were not independently associated with low birth weight (LBW) babies (adjusted OR-0.76, 95%CI-0.24-2.41) primary PPH (adjusted OR-2.42, 95%CI-0.79-7.42). A lower overall prevalence of serum vitamin D deficiency is noted among the study participants. Maternal serum hypovitaminosis D was not associated with primary PPH and perinatal asphyxia.  Large, well designed, multi-center RCTs are therefore required to determine if supplementation in pregnant women with low vitamin D status will reduce the risk of these adverse pregnancy outcomes.