Dark-skined mothers: preeclampsia 12X more likely if gestational hypertension

Vitamin D deficiency in pregnant women of ethnic minority: a potential contributor to preeclampsia

Journal of Perinatology , (22 May 2014) | doi:10.1038/jp.2014.91

I V Reeves, Z D Bamji, G B Rosario, K M Lewis, M A Young and K N Washington

Objective: We investigated risk for comorbidities and preeclampsia at low vitamin D levels in ethnic minorities.

Study design: Umbilical cord vitamin D (25(OH)D) concentration was determined in urban minorities: 80.9% African American and 17% Hispanic mothers-baby pairs. To identify the correlation between vitamin D levels and high-risk comorbidities which result in preeclampsia, multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed.

Result: Below the Institute of Medicine threshold of 25(OH)D for pregnant women (25 ng ml−1), obesity (P=0.055) and pregestational diabetes (odds ratio (OR)=2.056) were observed.

The study median was 16 ng ml−1 (<25th percentile), at which

• gestational hypertension (P=0.042),

• chronic hypertension (OR=4.842) and

• pregestational diabetes (OR=3.45) became relevant.

  The risk for preeclampsia increased

• 12-fold with gestational hypertension (P=0.003) and

• 14-fold with combined chronic and gestational hypertension (P=0.001).

Conclusion: Pregnant women of ethnic minority had lower median vitamin D levels which may contribute to a potential risk for preeclampsia.

See also VitaminDWiki

• Search VitaminDWiki for PREECLAMPSIA 309 items as of Jan 2015

• Dark skin pregnancies and Vitamin D - many studies

• Why preeclampsia is 5X more likely if vitamin D insufficient – Jan 2015

• Preeclampsia rate cut in half by high level of vitamin D – meta-analysis March 2014

• Overview Pregnancy and vitamin D

• Risk of preeclampsia might be cut in half if take an amount of Vitamin D – meta-analysis Sept 2017

  The articles in Pregnancy AND Dark Skin are here:

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