Scientists have lots of evidence that people in northern latitudes have lower levels of vitamin D in the winter, when sunlight is not strong enough for the skin to make this hormone. How does that affect pregnant women and their infants? A new study looked at the impact of moms’ vitamin D supplements on babies’ bone mineral density.
Moms’ Vitamin D Supplements Help Some Babies’ Bones:
Wintertime babies have stronger bones if their mothers took vitamin D supplements during pregnancy. That’s according to a new study of more than 1,000 pregnant women in the United Kingdom.
In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, the women were randomly assigned to take either 1,000 International Units of vitamin D3 daily or a look-alike placebo. That was in addition to the 400 IUs that they were taking in their prenatal vitamins.
Difference Shows Up in Winter-Born Babies:
There was no difference in the amount of bone mineral seen in babies in the study overall. There was, however, a significant difference when the scientists compared babies born in the winter. That is the season when mothers’ vitamin D levels naturally drop. Babies whose mothers took placebo had less bone mineral than those whose mothers had taken additional vitamin D supplements.
This study is the first experiment to show that moms’ vitamin D supplements during pregnancy could improve babies’ bone mass.
