Vitamin D and Prenatal-Newborn Health: A Vitamin D Expert Interview

Published on October 1, 2024

Dr. Mobeen Syed and Jen Aliano of GrassrootsHealth interview Dr. Bruce Hollis and Dr. Carol Wagner.

Key Points

Everyone, especially pregnant women, require individualized vitamin D doses aimed at achieving and maintaining a vitamin D level of 50 ng/ml (125 nmol/L)
If testing is not available, doses of 5,000 IU vitamin D per day are recognized as safe during pregnancy, however, individuals at higher risk of deficiency may require a higher dose
Many high-quality studies on vitamin D and pregnancy have been published but ignored, including by the mainstream medical institutions responsible for creating official recommendations and guidelines

Drs. Bruce Hollis and Carol Wagner, both top senior vitamin D researchers, were recently hosted on a DrBeen Medical Lectures presentation with Jen Aliano, Director of GrassrootsHealth, to discuss vitamin D for maternal and infant health in the wake of the latest Endocrine Society update to vitamin D guidelines. Both Dr. Hollis and Dr. Wagner are long-time vitamin D researchers with a special interest in prenatal and newborn health. Their research findings demonstrate the immense impact that vitamin D can have on the health of both the mother and baby when sufficiency is maintained throughout pregnancy.

In the following video, they discuss the importance of vitamin D during this time of life and what pregnant women and health-care practitioners can do to safely ensure vitamin D sufficiency. They also discuss shortcomings of the current recommendations made by conventional medical organizations such as the Institute of Medicine and the Endocrine Society, and the unexplainable lack of support for vitamin D from the mainstream.

About the Speakers

Dr. Bruce W. Hollis, PhD

Professor of Pediatrics, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
BSc, MSc and PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry
Expert in Nutritional Biochemistry, Maternal and Child Health, Pediatric Nutrition
Published 300 peer reviewed articles with nearly 70,000 citations
Scientific achievements include basic research and clinically based research on vitamin D
Involved in the development of blood testing for vitamin D

Dr. Carol Wagner, MD

Pediatrician and Neonatologist at the Medical University of South Carolina
Professor of Pediatrics with tenure, Undergraduate degree from Brown University, MD degree from Boston University School of Medicine
Completed various studies on vitamin D, focusing on pregnant and lactating women and their infants
Keen interest in maternal, neonatal and infant nutrition

Watch the Video

Additional Points from the Video

High-quality vitamin D trials, including during pregnancy, have been conducted and published for decades, linking vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency to an increased risk of health outcomes such as preterm birth, preeclampsia, acute infections, and more.

Certain individuals are at higher risk of vitamin D deficiency, including those with darker skin, those who lack sufficient midday sun exposure (without sunscreen), having a higher BMI, low magnesium status/intake, certain genetic variations, and other factors. For these reasons, recommending a single ‘blanket’ dose of vitamin D is inadequate for achieving and maintaining sufficient, physiological vitamin D levels (of 50-60 ng/ml during pregnancy) among all individuals.

Measuring vitamin D levels is necessary to determine the status of vitamin D, followed by supplementation and re-testing after 3 months to determine whether the dose chosen is adequate or if it should be adjusted. Once target vitamin D levels have been achieved, that is the dose of vitamin D fit for that individual, which should be maintained on a daily basis.

Pregnancy is a unique time in the life cycle for many reasons, but also when it comes to vitamin D. It is the only time that the conversion of vitamin D (from D3 to 25(OH)D to 1,25D) is not dependent on calcium homeostasis. In fact, the level of 1,25 vitamin D found in pregnancy would be toxic or fatal to non-pregnant individuals, indicating a unique physiological need of vitamin D for pregnancy and the growing fetus.

Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy can affect the life-long health of the unborn child.

High-quality trials on vitamin D are being ignored instead of publicized and supported for reasons that can only be speculative. It is important for all health practitioners and individuals to look at the research themselves, learn from long-time vitamin D scientists and experts such as Drs. Hollis and Wagner, and determine their own action steps to safely support a healthy pregnancy (and life) with vitamin D.

Measure Your Levels of Vitamin D, Magnesium, and Other Important Nutrients and Markers

Having and maintaining healthy vitamin D, magnesium, omega-3s, zinc and other nutrient levels can help improve your health now and for your future. Choose which to measure, such as your vitamin D, omega-3s, and essential minerals including magnesium and zinc, by creating your custom home test kit today. Take steps to improve the status of each of these measurements to benefit your overall health. You can also track your own intakes, symptoms and results to see what works best for YOU.

Enroll and test your levels today, learn what steps to take to improve your status of vitamin D (see below) and other nutrients and blood markers, and take action! By enrolling in the GrassrootsHealth projects, you are not only contributing valuable information to everyone, you are also gaining knowledge about how you could improve your own health through measuring and tracking your nutrient status, and educating yourself on how to improve it.

How Can You Use this Information for YOUR Health?

Having and maintaining healthy vitamin D and other nutrient levels can help improve your health now and for your future. Measuring is the only way to make sure you are getting enough!

STEP 1 Order your at-home blood spot test kit to measure vitamin D and other nutrients of concern to you, such as omega-3s, magnesium, essential and toxic elements (zinc, copper, selenium, lead, cadmium, mercury); include hsCRP as a marker of inflammation or HbA1c for blood sugar health

STEP 2 Answer the online questionnaire as part of the GrassrootsHealth study

STEP 3 Using our educational materials and tools (such as our dose calculators), assess your results to determine if you are in your desired target range or if actions should be taken to get there

STEP 4 After 3-6 months of implementing your changes, re-test to see if you have achieved your target level(s)

Enroll in D*action and Build Your Custom Test Kit!