Background: Vitamin D3 is a micronutrient that is essential for calcium homeostasis, especially during pregnancy, where there is high formational physiologic demand. In most antenatal care settings in developing countries, vitamin D and calcium assays are not part of routine practice during clinic visits. This study aimed to assess the current status of maternal serum vitamin D and calcium among antenatal care attendees. Methods: The study design was cross-sectional, with the use of a systematic random sampling method to recruit antenatal care clinic attendees. The enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) method was used to assay for vitamin D3, while the automated spectrophotometer enzymatic method was used to estimate serum calcium. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 26.0. Fisher’s Exact, independent t-test, and Pearson correlation analysis were used as inferential statistics. P-value was set at 0.05. Results: Two hundred and twenty-four (224) subjects were studied, with a mean age of 29.0 ± 4.8 years. The median (IQR) serum level of vitamin D was 36.6 (37.1) nmol/l. and 37.5% had insufficient (17.9%) or deficient (19.6%) levels. Mean serum calcium was 1.78 ± 0.49 mmol/l, and approximately three-quarters (76.4%) of subjects had (subclinical) hypoglycemia. There was a significant positive correlation between gestational age and serum vitamin D, as well as an inverse correlation between systolic blood pressure (SBP) and serum levels of vitamin D (p<0.05). Conclusions: Antenatal clinic consultations should consider vitamin D assay for high-risk pregnant women, as well as emphasize dietary counseling for vitamin D supplementation and/or intake of vitamin D-rich foods.
Eyong et al. (Tue,) studied this question.