Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Vitamin D Supplementation to Pregnant Women and Their Infants in Pakistan.

Overview

Vitamin D deficiency is wide spread in South Asian population and is contributing to burden of disease in this region including Pakistan. The relative importance of vitamin D deficiency, mutation in its receptor and maternal and child health has not been established in Pakistan and population based studies are required to explore and avert the maternal and Neonatal complications and consequences of Vitamin D deficiency The trial will evaluate the effectiveness of Vitamin D supplementation to pregnant women and their Infants. It will be a double blind placebo controlled trial, which will be conducted in a rural district of Pakistan.

The investigators are proposing a community based introduction of vitamin D supplementation and we intend to understand the complex relationship between vitamin D, the growth factors and maternal and infant anthropometric variables and hope to unravel the reasons of vitamin D deficiency in our population. The investigators expect that if vitamin D is supplemented to pregnant women and their newborn infants it will inevitably replenish the micronutrient stores and aid to resolve the maternal and neonatal morbidity due to Vitamin D deficiency.

Conditions