Vitamin D supplements help reduce the risk of pregnancy loss

A new study has suggested that Vitamin D supplements can help to reduce the risk of pregnancy loss in women who have previously suffered a miscarriage.

Lead author of the report, Dr Sunni Mumford, from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Maryland, USA said, “Our findings suggest that vitamin D may play a protective role in pregnancy.”

The study included study of 1200 pregnant women who had previously suffered a miscarriage. They took samples of blood before pregnancy and then 8 weeks into the gestation period in order to determine vitamin D levels.

The research results found that if vitamin D levels were sufficient (greater than 30ng/ml) then women are;

• 10% more likely to conceive
• 15% more likely to have a live birth
• 12% less likely to miscarry with every 10ng/ml increase in vitamin D before becoming pregnant

The findings of the research published in the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology