title: Vitamin D deficiency is common among pregnant women in rural Victoria.
abstract: There is increasing evidence to implicate vitamin D deficiency in a variety of diseases. Previous advice has been to screen high-risk pregnant women. This study shows that, despite abundant sunshine and latitude consistent with year-long vitamin D synthesis, 65.5% of a largely low-risk antenatal population in rural Victoria have insufficient vitamin D. Over 5.0% of women have vitamin D levels that pose a significant neonatal and adult health risk. These findings support routine antenatal testing of vitamin D levels.
authors.affiliation: Rural Clinical School, University of Melbourne and Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Goulburn Valley Health, Victoria, Australia. glyn.teale@gvhealth.org.au
authors.forename: Glyn R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Teale
authors.forename: Chris E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Cunningham
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012424:Rural Population; D014739:Victoria / Q000453:epidemiology; D014808:Vitamin D Deficiency / Q000453:epidemiology*