The symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency can be subtle. They can include muscle pain, weakness, bone pain, and soft bones, which can lead to fractures. You can also have a vitamin D deficiency without any symptoms. Preeclampsia (high blood pressure during pregnancy) and hypertensive disorders.
If you don't take a vitamin D supplement during pregnancy, there's a risk that your child will have soft bones. This can lead to rickets (a disease that affects bone development in children). People with darker skin tones (with more melanin pigment in their skin) produce less vitamin D in their skin. Finally, you can also get an idea of the vitamin D content of various types of foods by consulting the National Institutes of Health's vitamin D resource (see table).
You can easily check your vitamin D levels from the comfort and privacy of your home with an Everlywell vitamin D testing kit. It's best to talk to your health care provider to find out how much vitamin D your baby needs through supplementation. Medications such as steroids, cholesterol-lowering drugs, anticonvulsants, or diuretics interfere with the absorption of vitamin D. In addition, vitamin D is produced by the skin when exposed to sunlight and also helps absorb calcium from the intestines for use in bone growth.
If the pregnant woman is at high risk of developing a vitamin D deficiency, the newborn will also be at the same risk. Women classified as at high risk of developing a vitamin D deficiency should have a blood test to assess vitamin D (25-OH-D) levels. Data on the association of vitamin D deficiency with the quality of life (CV) of pregnant women are limited. To take the Everlywell home vitamin D test, simply collect a small blood sample (with a simple prick on the finger) and send it to the laboratory using the prepaid shipping label that comes with the kit.
After birth, a baby will likely need a vitamin D supplement (breast milk, by itself, usually doesn't provide enough vitamin D for the baby). It's not known exactly how long it takes to be exposed to the sun to produce enough vitamin D to meet the body's needs. Therefore, screening pregnant women at risk for vitamin D deficiency and providing them with vitamin D supplements may be a viable intervention to improve pregnancy symptoms, such as back pain and lack of sleep. It can also be found in egg yolks, cheese, beef liver, and foods fortified with vitamin D, such as many types of cereals, dairy products, and orange juice.
It was observed that symptoms such as back pain, sleeping difficulties, fatigue and nausea were factors that contributed to the decline in quality of life. Disorders such as Crohn's disease or celiac disease involve a decreased ability to absorb dietary fats, leading to a lower absorption of vitamin D.
