Maternal Supplementation of Vitamin D During Lactation to Support Infant Vitamin D Needs: A Systematic Review
Open Journal of Pediatrics, 8, 255-272, September 2018, DOI: 10.4236/ojped.2018.83027
Kelly Schossow1, Alena M. Clark2, Mary A. Harris3*
1Jefferson County Public Health, Lakewood, CO, USA.
2 Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, CO, USA.
3 Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
This study looked at 7 Randomized Controlled Trials to determin how much the mother should take to get a good level of vitamin D for both the mother and exclusively breastfed infant.
There have been hundreds of other studies looking at dosing size and interval
- Intervention category listing has
823 items all trials - Intervention - non daily category listing has
271 items along with related searches - Interval summary: Daily dosing down to just 1 dose every 17 days does not appear to matter much
- Several trials, however, found that biweekly dosing was actually better than daily dosing
- There is a slight decrease with monthly dosing
- VitaminDWiki recommends a minimum of 50,000 IU every 2 weeks for everyone
- infant will also need at least 200 IU daily average (or 2800 IU every 2 weeks)
- Including Before, During, and After pregnancy (see below)
- Infant-Child category listing has
854 items along with related searches
No consensus as to how much the infant needs: 200 IU up to 1,600 IU daily- Breast milk resulted in 20 ng of vitamin D for infant if mother had taken 5,000 IU daily – RCT Dec 2013
- Breastfeeding mother getting 6400 IU of Vitamin D is similar to infant getting 400 IU – RCT Sept 2015
- Vitamin D required for breastfed infants – daily or monthly, infant or mother – Jan 2017
- Breastfeeding mothers and Vitamin D: supplement only themselves usually, 4 out of 10 used monthly rather than daily – Jan 2017
- 4,000 IU of Vitamin D is OK - 19 organizations agree - 2018
- General agreement that 4,000 IU is acceptable most places around the world
Pregnancy category starts with
920 items in Pregnancy category - see also
- Overview Pregnancy and vitamin D
- Number of articles in both categories of Pregnancy and:Dark Skin
29 ; Depression 21 ; Diabetes 44 ; Obesity 17 ; Hypertension 44 ; Breathing 35 ; Omega-3 44 ; Vitamin D Receptor 24 Click here for details - All items in category Infant/Child
854 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
142 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
Healthy pregnancies need lots of vitamin D has the following summary
Most were taking 2,000 to 7,000 IU daily for >50% of pregnancy
Click on hyperlinks for detailsProblemVit. D
ReducesEvidence 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 limitsRCT 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
 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki
Human milk is generally considered to be insufficient in vitamin D. However, research completed in the 1980s showed that the vitamin D content of human milk is directly related to maternal serum vitamin D levels and therefore may potentially be adequate if the mother’s vitamin D levels are sufficient. Approximately one-third of the adult population, which includes breastfeeding women, in the United States have vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency. Among infants, 90.4% of breastfed infants are vitamin D deficient compared to 15.4% of formula fed infants. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has therefore recommended all breastfed infants be directly supplemented with 400 IU per day of vitamin D to decrease the risk of vitamin D insufficiency and rickets. According to the AAP, compliance rates with this recommendation ranges between 2% - 36%. Because the recommendation to supplement may undermine breastfeeding, many pediatricians do not inform their patients of the need to supplement. Additionally, some parents are concerned about directly supplementing their infant as risks may include allergic reactions to the ingredients, aspiration pneumonia, accidental overdose, and changes in intestinal flora and pH which may compromise the immune benefits of human milk. A literature review was conducted to examine the effect of maternal supplementation with vitamin D during lactation on human milk vitamin D content and maternal and infant serum vitamin D levels. Although there is no current consensus regarding dosage and timing of maternal vitamin D supplementation, the literature suggests that high-dose vitamin D supplementation of the lactating mother is as effective at maintaining infant vitamin D levels as direct infant supplementation, while also correcting the mother’s vitamin D deficiency.
Vitamin D during lactation – range from 4,000 IU daily to 150,000 IU monthly – Sept 20186281 visitors, last modified 25 Sep, 2018, This page is in the following categories (# of items in each category) - All items in category Infant/Child
- Intervention - non daily category listing has