Vitamin D in pregnancy (CNN article)

[brittone2]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/04/30/vitamin.d.pregnancy/index.html

I thought I'd share this. I had my levels checked at the end of my first tri by my midwives. At that point, I had been taking 2000iu per day for probably a year or two, and we were coming off of summertime here in sunny NC. I am not super dark skinned...I have a medium skintone. I get outside pretty often. I don't wear sunscreen daily. (eta: I also eat quite a bit of vit D rich foods...pastured eggs, etc.) My levels were still low at 27. I chose to up my D3 intake to about 5000iu at that point.

I had followed the research on vit d for quite a while prior to that, but never knew about the possible reduction in c-section rates as a benefit until I was talking with my CNM about it. That is one of many reasons they choose to routinely screen their pg moms for their D levels, but I know many healthcare providers are still not doing so.

Several moms here have gotten theirs checked and found their levels to be *very* low. Mine weren't drastically low, but I was already taking 2000iu per day for a long time, and they were still not even at the very lowest end of the normal range (which isn't where I'd strive to be regardless based on the research).

Thought I'd share.

[daisymommy]

Wow Beth! Thanks for sharing this. :thumbsup: Seems there are so many positive reasons to take extra Vitamin D that we are just now discovering. We've been taking 2,000 IU all winter to help prevent the flu (no one here caught it--yeah!). But I had never heard about the need for more in pregnancy. Good to know!

[DrSally]

I want to get mine checked at my next appt. I wonder if my OB will do it. I recall a few other stories of people on here who supplement and sill had low levels

[caleymama]

Wow Beth! Thanks for sharing this. :thumbsup:

:yeahthat:

I saw some news about this the other day (NYT maybe?) but it's interesting to hear your personal experience w/ your levels.

[Sillygirl]

The test may not be covered by your insurance. That said, at our lab it's about $35 the last time I checked, so not very expensive.

[DrSally]

The test may not be covered by your insurance. That said, at our lab it's about $35 the last time I checked, so not very expensive.

Thanks for the heads up on that.

[essnce629]

I've been researching vitamin D for a while now too. The studies I've read said that breastfeeding mothers need to take 6400IU for it to have high enough levels in their breastmilk to be adequate for their babies. Most women don't take this much which is why breastfed babies are usually deficient and thus the recommendation to supplement breastfed babies with vitamin D. I take 6000IU of vitamin D each day in the form of liquid drops. I use the Carlson brand. I have the 2000IU drops-- 1 drop is 2000IU so I take 3 drops a day. I also have 400IU in my prenatal and another 400IU in my calcium supplement so I get 6800IU total. DBF takes 6000IU a day in drop form and DS1 takes 2000IU.

I buy my Carlson vitamin D drops from Vitacost.com since it's the cheapest I've found it. They are in a coconut oil base and have no taste. You can take it directly on your tongue or put it in food/drink. They have 2000IU, 1000IU, and 400IU (baby) drops.
http://www.vitacost.com/productResults.aspx?ss=1&Ntk=products&Ntt=carlson%20vitamin%20d%20drops

This site has a lot of good info on dosage amounts:
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/treatment.shtml

There's also a lot of new research showing that vitamin d keeps the immune system strong and keeps you from getting sick. Vitamin D helps prevent the flu and low levels of vitamin D are linked with increased colds. There's also a lot of reasearch showing that vitamin D may be key in cancer prevention.