Even in a population of women with vitamin D deficiency, supplementation of high-dose vitamin D from mid-pregnancy until birth and for 6 months postpartum shows no benefits on measures of fetal or infant growth compared with prenatal supplementation only, or placebo, according to a study of more than 1100 women and their infants.

“Vitamin D supplementation given to women during the latter half of pregnancy and in the postpartum period improved biochemical markers of vitamin D status and reduced the risk of vitamin D deficiency, as expected. However, even at higher than conventional doses, vitamin D supplementation did not have effects on infant growth up to 1 year of age,” first author Daniel Roth, MD, PhD, an associate professor in the departments of pediatrics and nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto, Ontario, told Medscape Medical News.

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