Vitamin D deficiency in veiled or dark‐skinned pregnant women

OBJECTIVES: To determine the vitamin D status of veiled or dark-skinned pregnant women, because of their known increased risk of vitamin D deficiency. DESIGN: An audit of vitamin D status. SETTING: An antenatal clinic in a major metropolitan teaching hospital, Melbourne, Victoria. PARTICIPANTS: Pregnant women attending the clinic who agreed to be screened. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25OHD3) level at first visit to the antenatal clinic. RESULTS: Of 94 women, 82 were screened. Sixty-six women (80%) had 25OHD3 values below the test reference range (22.5-93.8 nmol/L). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings are a cause for concern, because vitamin D deficient women are at risk of bone disease and their children at risk of neonatal hypocalcaemia and rickets.