Prevalence of Vitamin D Deficiency among Pregnant Women in Sulaimaneyah City-Iraq

Abstract

Hypovitaminosis D during pregnancy has a negative impact on the mother and infant’s health status. The main source of Vitamin D is sunshine and ultraviolet B for most humans and food sources are often inadequate. The present work has been carried out to demonstrate the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency among pregnant women in the Sulaimaneyah City/Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Serum samples were collected from 261 pregnant women who attended the Teaching Maternity Hospital and met inclusion criteria and were examined for 25-hydroxyvitamin D using the Roche Elecsys Vitamin D3 assay. Different information included, including sociodemography, body mass index, and obstetric history, was collected using a specific questionnaire form. The study showed a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D (71.3%) among pregnant women. High socioeconomic classes, blood group A-, and advanced gestational age have been significantly associated with higher Vitamin D levels. Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in pregnant women in Sulaimani city. Because of the many risk factors of Vitamin D deficiency and a series of health consequences, the government needs to take a step to address the problem, including raising awareness among the community about the burden of the situation and how to increase obtaining optimum Vitamin D from different sources.