Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency and Its Associations with Skin Color in Pregnant Women in the First Trimester in a Sample from Switzerland.
Nutrients. 2017 Mar 10;9(3). pii: E260. doi: 10.3390/nu9030260.
Richard A1, Rohrmann S2, Quack Lötscher KC3.
- 1 Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, CH-8001 Zurich, Switzerland. richard at patientensicherheit.ch.
- 2 Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Prevention Institute, University of Zurich, Hirschengraben 84, CH-8001 Zurich, Switzerland. sabine.rohrmann at uzh.ch.
- 3 Clinic of Obstetrics, University Hospital Zurich, Frauenklinikstrasse 10, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland. katharina.quackloetscher at usz.ch.
Dark skin pregnancies and Vitamin D - many studies)
The articles in both categories of Pregnancy AND Dark Skin are here:
- Dark-skinned people have low vitamin D (Obese pregnant women in UK in this case) – Sept 2024
- Preterm Birth 2.7X more likely if low vitamin D (dark skin in this case) - Nov 2023
- Low vitamin D while pregnant – a health emergency (Indonesia in this case) – meta-analysis May 2023
- US maternal death rate increasing (low D not mentioned) - March 2023
- Vitamin D Status May Help Explain Maternal Race and Ethnic Factors in Primary Cesarean Section Delivery – April 2020
- Dark-skin plus low vitamin D in first trimester made preterm birth 2.9 X more likely – Dec 2019
- Low vitamin D in pregnancy linked to potentially harmful vaginal bacteria in black women - May 2019
- Pregnant while black increases chance of death – mothers 3X, infants 2X (low Vitamin D) – Feb 2019
- Depressed black pregnant women should take vitamin D – April 2018
- Bone loss during black pregnancies – 4000 IU of vitamin D was not enough – Dec 2017
- Preterm birth more likely if dark skinned and low vitamin D (not white-skinned) – April 2017
- Dark skin pregnancies 2.6 times more likely to have low vitamin D – March 2017
- Premature birth and infant mortality worse if dark skin (low vitamin D) - 2015
- Autism with intellectual disability 2.5 times more likely if low vitamin D during pregnancy – April 2016
- Ethnicity and low vitamin D levels during pregnancy – Jan 2016
- Metabolites of pregnant blacks vary with vitamin D level – Nov 2014
- Dark-skined mothers: preeclampsia 12X more likely if gestational hypertension – May 2014
- 78 percent of pregnant immigrants in Sweden had less than 10 ng low vitamin D – Nov 2013
- Depression in pregnant blacks strongly associated to vitamin D levels – Nov 2012
- Dr. Holick video on vitamin D - March 2013
- Dark skinned pregnant women far from equator were very vitamin D deficient – Sept 2012
- Pregnant blacks 50 pcnt more likely to be depressed if 3 ng less vitamin D – July 2012
- 80 percent of South Asian Women in UK had less than 10 ng of vitamin D in winter – April 2012
- Blacks have more pre-term births due to low nutrients such as vitamin D – Sept 2011
- Dark skin pregnancies and Vitamin D - many studies
- Vitamin D and fertility and birth problems with dark skin – Jan 2011
- Very low vitamin D for first pregnancies and those with dark skin – Jan 2011
- 97 percent of pregnant Blacks had less than 32 ng of vitamin D - 2010
- Pregnant women vitamin D insuficiency Black 97 Hispanic 81 White 67 percent – July 2010
 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki
Vitamin D deficiency in pregnancy has negative clinical consequences, such as associations with glucose intolerance, and has been shown to be distributed differently in certain ethnic groups. In some countries, a difference in the rate of vitamin D deficiency was detected in pregnant women depending on their skin color. We examined the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (<20 ng/mL) in women in early pregnancy in Switzerland and evaluated the association of skin color with vitamin D deficiency. In a single-center cohort study, the validated Fitzpatrick scale and objective melanin index were used to determine skin color. Of the 204 pregnant women included, 63% were vitamin D deficient. The mean serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration was 26.1 ng/mL (95% confidence interval (CI) 24.8-27.4) in vitamin D-sufficient women and 10.5 ng/mL (95% CI 9.7-11.5) in women with deficiency. In the most parsimonious model, women with dark skin color were statistically significantly more often vitamin D deficient compared to women with light skin color (OR 2.60; 95% CI 1.08-6.22; adjusted for age, season, vitamin D supplement use, body mass index, smoking, parity). This calls for more intense counseling as one policy option to improve vitamin D status during pregnancy, i.e., use of vitamin D supplements during pregnancy, in particular for women with darker skin color.
PMID: 28287422 DOI: 10.3390/nu9030260