comparison of vitamin d level in preterm and term infant–mother pairs: a brief study

background: recent studies have demonstrated the high prevalence of vitamin d deficiency in the general population. pregnancy and preterm delivery are known as risk factors for vitamin d deficiency. consequently, vitamin d level in women with preterm deliveries might vary from those with term pregnancies. in this study, we aimed to compare vitamin d level in term and preterm infant–mother pairs. methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted in the neonatal intensive care unit of mahdieh hospital in tehran, iran in 2013. serum level of 25-hydroxy vitamin d in preterm infant-mother pairs (≤ 32 weeks of gestation and birth weight ≤ 1500 g) was compared with term infant-mother pairs within the first 24 hours after delivery. results: in total, 62 infant-mother pairs were recruited in this study, including 33 preterm (53.2%) and 29 term (46.8%) newborns; overall, 32 (51.6%) infants were male. the mean maternal age was 27.3 years in the preterm group and 26.4 years in the term group. the mean serum vitamin d level in preterm infants was 13.91 ng/ml. in the preterm group, vitamin d level was within the range of 4-59 ng/ml in newborns and 8-62 ng/ml in mothers. in the term group, the mean vitamin d level was 13.39 in infants and 13.7 ng/ml in mothers. in total, 48.5% and 65.5% of preterm and term groups had vitamin d deficiency, respectively. among all newborns, 56% had vitamin d deficiency, although the difference between term and preterm neonates was not statistically significant. also, there was no significant correlation between the infants’ serum vitamin d level and birth weight. based on the findings, serum vitamin d levels in mothers and newborns were significantly correlated (p<0.001). conclusion: according to the present study, there was no significant correlation between gestational age and vitamin d level in infant-mother pairs; however, vitamin d levels in mothers and newborns were significantly correlated.