Vitamin D is being used to prevent premature births – Baggerly interview

Vitamin D Council podcast 10: Carole Baggerly of GrassrootsHealth

Episode notes by Dr. Cannell of Vitamin D Council

Baggerly is the head of GrassrootsHealth, a fellow non-profit organization focusing on migrating vitamin D research into practice. Though faced with many challenges along the way, Baggerly and team found that pregnant women, their physicians and the institutions were ready to begin implementing vitamin D education, testing and supplementation into their prenatal regimen.

In this episode, Baggerly discusses the success of her vitamin D program for pregnant women in South Carolina and provides insight on a study in which she played an instrumental role in publishing regarding vitamin D status and premature birth risk.

Notes by Henry Lahore of VitaminDWiki

2012 study looked only at treatment groups

Baggerly re-analyzed to look at the vitamin D level actually achieved

Preterm birth rate reduced 57 percent by Vitamin D – Nov 2015 had the following

Most of the white women already had 30 ng of vitamin D, so not as much reduction in pre-term bith

Study at 40 ng was confirmed 2 ways – the data and March of Dimes

Liza Bodnar also found same thing – 3,000 women Feb 2015

Starting year of organizations: Viamin D Council 2001,. Grassroots 2007, VitaminDWiki 2009

She is training the full OBGYN staff – not just the OBGYN doctors

She has two continuing medical education courses online

She had started 500 women – but they expanded it to 2,000 women per year

Compliance: Phone encouragement does not seem to help, have online chat room

They do have texting to the women – 100% of them have cellphones

Vitamin D is now the standard of care at that institution – so physician is not at risk for law suits

Funding for South Carolina was by Managed Care Insurance

Cost of the 2 year project is $450,000 (for 500 women?)

Estimated cost benefit $8 million annually for 2000 women

Dr. Cannell would like to have children continue to be on vitamin D – but nothing is funded, or implemented

Dr. Cannell believes Vitamin D is needed by toddler, wherease 98% of researchers believe that Autisim is lack of D during pregnancy

Expansion of providing vitamin D during pregnancy outside of South Carolina

Generally the hospitals that are wanting to do it

• Missoula Montana – in process ,

• initial in Connecticut and Arkansas

Dr. Cannell: Probably should have only 1 claim – premature birth, will be easier for people to understand than 10 claims

She wants to tell journals that It is essential that Vitamin D analysis be done on outcome serum levels, not dosing levels

e.g. 40 ng, not 4,000 IU dosing

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See also VitaminDWiki

• Ensure a healthy pregnancy and infant with as little as $20 of Vitamin D

• Vitamin D Webinar - cost of pre-term birth etc- Baggerly Nov 2013 has the following graphic

• Pre-term birth - many of risk factors are associated with low vitamin D

• Women taking 4,000 IU reduced pregnancy risks in half RCT May 2010

• Pregnant women will get Vitamin D – going beyond clinical trials - March 2015

  Healthy pregnancies need lots of vitamin D has the following summary

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Intervention during Pregnancy studies on VitaminDWiki

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