Dr. Hollis interview on the importance of Vitamin D during pregnancy - Feb 2025

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52-minute Video

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Health Outcomes Associated with Vitamin D Screening and Supplementation During Pregnancy: Claude AI summary

• Key Finding: A study by Rostami et al. (2018) showed that pregnant women who received Vitamin D screening and appropriate supplementation had significantly better health outcomes than those who didn't, with 60% lower rates of preeclampsia, 50% lower rates of gestational diabetes, and 40% lower rates of preterm delivery.
• Study Design: The research examined 900 pregnant women who received Vitamin D screening and supplementation based on their baseline levels, compared to 900 women who received standard care without screening.
• Vitamin D Deficiency: In the non-screening group, 98% of women remained deficient or insufficient (blood levels below 20 ng/mL) after standard prenatal care, while in the screening group, 53% achieved levels above 20 ng/mL, but only 2.7% reached optimal levels (above 30 ng/mL).
• Optimal Protection: No cases of preeclampsia or gestational diabetes were observed among women who achieved Vitamin D levels above 30 ng/mL at delivery, suggesting this level may provide optimal protection.
• Safety: Dr. Hollis discusses his decades of research confirming that Vitamin D supplementation of 4,000-6,000 IU daily during pregnancy is safe, with no cases of Vitamin D toxicity observed despite extensive monitoring.
• Recommendation: Dr. Hollis recommends 4,000-6,000 IU of Vitamin D daily for pregnant women, and notes that this dosage is particularly important for women with darker skin who cannot efficiently produce Vitamin D from sunlight.
• Testing Importance: While Vitamin D testing can be valuable for education and monitoring, supplementation should not be delayed if testing isn't available, especially for high-risk groups like women with darker skin.
• Pregnancy Physiology: Pregnancy creates a unique Vitamin D metabolic state where levels of active Vitamin D (1,25D) increase dramatically, likely serving immune and developmental functions beyond calcium regulation.
• Preconception Benefits: Achieving Vitamin D sufficiency (40+ ng/mL) before conception or early in pregnancy may provide the greatest benefits for both mother and child.
• Broader Application: Dr. Hollis suggests everyone should consider taking 4,000-5,000 IU of Vitamin D daily regardless of pregnancy status, as it may improve quality of life and decrease infection rates.

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Rough transcript is here

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VitaminDWiki - 8 Videos/Books on Pregnancy

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11+ VitaminDWiki pages have HOLLIS in the title

The list is automatically updated

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VitaminDWiki - Pregnancy category contains

942 items in Pregnancy category

 - see also

• Overview Pregnancy and vitamin D
• Number of articles in both categories of Pregnancy and:Dark Skin 30;   Depression 21;   Diabetes 45;   Obesity 18;  Hypertension 44;   Breathing 37;  Omega-3 46;  Vitamin D Receptor 25 Click here for details
• All items in category Infant/Child 866 items
• Pregnancy needs at least 40 ng of vitamin D, achieved by at least 4,000 IU – Hollis Aug 2017
• 38+ papers with Breastfed etc, in the title
• Call to action – more Vitamin D for pregnancies, loading doses are OK – Holick Aug 2019
• 53+ preeclampsia studies
• 94+ studies with PRETERM in the title
• Fertility problem (PCOS) reduced by vitamin D, etc: many studies 15+
• 94+ Gestational Diabetes
• Caesarean birth much more likely if low Vitamin D - many studies 15+ studies
• Post-partum depression and low Vitamin D - many studies 15+ studies
• Stillbirth reduced by Vitamin D, Zinc, Omega-3 - several studies 5+ studies
• Search VitaminDWiki for "Assisted reproduction" 33 items as of Aug 2022
• Fertility and Sperm category listing has 146 items along with related searches
• (Stunting OR “low birth weight” OR LBW) 1180 items as of June 2020
• Less labor pain if higher level of vitamin D – August 2021
• Healthy pregnancies need lots of vitamin D
• Ensure a healthy pregnancy and baby - take Vitamin D before conception
  

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VitaminDWiki – Healthy pregnancies need lots of vitamin D contains

Most were taking 2,000 to 7,000 IU daily for >50% of pregnancy
   Click on hyperlinks for details

Problem	Vit. D Reduces	Evidence
0. Chance of not conceiving	3.4 times	Observe
1. Miscarriage	2.5 times	Observe
2. Pre-eclampsia	3.6 times	RCT
3. Gestational Diabetes	3 times	RCT
4. Good 2nd trimester sleep quality	3.5 times	Observe
5. Premature birth	2 times	RCT
6. C-section - unplanned	1.6 times	Observe
Stillbirth - OMEGA-3	4 times	RCT - Omega-3
7. Depression AFTER pregnancy	1.4 times	RCT
8. Small for Gestational Age	1.6 times	meta-analysis
9. Infant height, weight, head size      within normal limits		RCT
10. Childhood Wheezing	1.3 times	RCT
11. Additional child is Autistic	4 times	Intervention
12.Young adult Multiple Sclerosis	1.9 times	Observe
13. Preeclampsia in young adult	3.5 times	RCT
14. Good motor skills @ age 3	1.4 times	Observe
15. Childhood Mite allergy	5 times	RCT
16. Childhood Respiratory Tract visits	2.5 times	RCT

RCT = Randomized Controlled Trial