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Vitamin D deficiency in veiled or dark-skinned pregnant women
1Royal Women's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC.
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.