Vitamin D Sufficiency is IMPORTANT to Pregnancy
Sufficiency is defined as being over 40 ng/ml (100 nmol/L) as early as possible within pregnancy (conception is ideal).
There is no ideal dosage because there is a sixfold difference in how people react to supplementation. This means that two women can take 4000 IU vitamin D daily and one will only have a vitamin D status of 20 ng/ml (50 nmol/L) and another will have 120 ng/ml (300 nmol/L). This is based on research that can be found here.
It is clear that the amount in prenatal is almost always too low unless you are regularly sunbathing or getting vitamin D in other forms.
The important thing is to test, not guess. You can do this through our D*action project (vitamin D test only) or through D*action+Omega-3 (vitamin D and Omega-3 Index tests). With both projects you are also joining a research project, helping others learn the benefits of nutrient sufficiency.
How Does Vitamin D Support Pregnancy?
Top 5 Reasons – for the Mother
Multiple research studies have found that vitamin D levels above 40 ng/ml during conception and pregnancy help the mother by:
10. 60% lower risk of preterm birth
9. Virtually eliminates pre-eclampsia
8. Supplementing up to 6400 IU/day is safe and effective.
7. Lower risk of gestational diabetes
6. Lower risk of post-partum depression
Top 4 Reasons – for the Child
Research has found that vitamin D levels above 40 ng/ml during conception and pregnancy help the child by:
5. 70% lower prevalence of common cold
4. 66 lower prevalence of ear infections
3. Improved language development
2. Reduction in type 1 diabetes (in adulthood)
The Number One Reason – Why Test?
1. Research has shown that virtually 100% of African American women of child bearing age, and 80% of all women are less than 40 ng/ml. This means it is highly likely you are too. It is not enough to just supplement because you do not know how much your body needs. Our D*action project, with over 10,000 participants, has found that there is a 6-fold variation in how much is processed by your body. Our research has found that people taking 5,000 IU/day, which is generally considered a good amount, can end up being only 25 ng/ml or as high as 140 ng/ml.
Test, Don’t Guess…
If you are 12-17 weeks pregnant – you can join our project for free! Find out more…
If you are conceiving, breast feeding, or > 17 weeks in your pregnancy, then we invite you to join D*action (testing vitamin D levels) or D*action+Omega-3 (vitamin D and Omega-3 Index tests).
What Is GrassrootsHealth Doing About This Research?
GrassrootsHealth knew this research was a critical piece to raising everyone’s vitamin D levels into the recommended range of 40-60 ng/ml and potentially decreasing many adult diseases by big margins. Why? Because if it is safe in pregnancy, it is safe for everyone. Because preterm birth is a real issue in the US, and it is also time-bound – we don’t have to wait 5-10 years to prove it works, like we would with cancer. So, we developed a program, Protect our Children NOW! that at its core is very simple – a program that tests and raises vitamin D levels in pregnancy above 40 ng/ml (100 nmol/L) as early as possible.
But, while this sounds easy, in a big institution or medical group it is not. There are too many hurdles and too big a cost to implement.
So, GrassrootsHealth created and successfully piloted a program over the course of three years at the Medical University of South Carolina. This program includes everything an institution needs to get started – research behind this initiative and scientists overseeing the study; a published guide for how to implement; education for both health professionals and patients; a project manager on the ground to oversee implementation; a back bone of data analysis tools to be able to publish the information at the end of two years. This can be picked up and replicated ANYWHERE that is ready to make a change to their population.
First Protect Our Children NOW! Implementation
This most recent research paper is a synopsis of the Protect our Children NOW! campaign at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) from September 2015 to December 2016 – 1,064 mothers and children. You can read about their implementation here. They achieved a 60% reduction in preterm labor and 88% reduction in women who had previously delivered preterm babies. The program is continuing and expanding at MUSC.
We Can’t Wait! We Can Do More!
GrassrootsHealth has everything an institution needs to run its own Protect our Children NOW! project
40-60% of preterm births could likely be prevented now, with vitamin D—safely, effectively, quickly!
Every day, there are approximately 1000 preterm births in the US. With vitamin D, we expect that number could likely be lower than 500—500/day saved. Based on the March of Dimes’ estimate at $50,000 extra cost per preterm birth, that’s a potential cost saving of $25MM each day, over $9B per year. And, in our time of increased concern about Medicaid expenses, likely $4.5B in Medicaid costs could be saved each year.
We need to act now! To raise everyone’s vitamin D levels above 40 ng/ml. We may see cost savings with pregnancy and births first, but we will eventually see longer-term disease prevention.
We are ready to implement Protect our Children NOW! in three more institutions in 2017. We need your help! Donate today to help raise $1M and fund three new programs or email [email protected] if you want to partner with us.