Vitamin D and Its Role in Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Brain Injury
Neonatology 2018;113:305–312, https://doi.org/10.1159/000486819
Stessman L.E. · Peeples E.S.
This study speculates as to how much Vitamin D should be given during pregnancy to reduce HIE
- Vitamin D once during pregnancy reduced infant health care costs (300 times ROI) – RCT Dec 2015
- Preterm birth rate reduced 57 percent by Vitamin D – Nov 2015 - with about 4,000 IU daily
- Clinical trials for pregnancy with Vitamin D intervention – 51 as of Sept 2015
- Low Vitamin D results in adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes – Wagner meta-analysis March 2017
- Preterm birth rate reduced by 43 percent with adequate Vitamin D supplementation – meta-analysis Feb 2017
- Preterm births are VERY costly – Feb 2017
Healthy pregnancies need lots of vitamin D has the following summary
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
Infant Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE)
- "Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) is a type of brain damage that occurs when an infant’s brain doesn’t receive enough oxygen and blood."
- " the incidence rate in premature babies is 60% of all live births"
The word vitamin does not occur once on that page
Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy Medscape Jan 2018
- "Perinatal asphyxia, more appropriately known as hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE), is characterized by clinical and laboratory evidence of acute or subacute brain injury due to asphyxia"
- "Birth asphyxia causes 840,000 or 23% of all neonatal deaths worldwide"
Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy, or HIE, also known as Intrapartum Asphyxia Cerebralpalsy.org
- "Oxygen deprivation, or intrapartum asphyxia, can cause Cerebral Palsy. One of the most common types of brain damage caused by oxygen loss is called hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy, or HIE. When HIE occurs, it often leads to severe developmental or cognitive delays, or motor impairments that become more apparent as the child continues to develop"
Emerging evidence has demonstrated that vitamin D plays an important role in many adult neurologic disorders, but is also critical in neuronal development and pruning in the neonatal and pediatric populations. Neonates are at a particularly high risk of vitamin D deficiency, in part due to the high prevalence of maternal deficiency during pregnancy. Several preclinical studies have demonstrated that infants born to vitamin D-deficient mothers are at a high risk of developing neonatal brain injury, and recent clinical studies have shown that neonates with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) tend to be vitamin D-deficient. There are limited data, however, on whether additional prenatal or postnatal supplementation may alter the prevalence or severity of neonatal HIE. This review examines the current data supporting the neuroprotective role of vitamin D, with a focus on how these findings may be translated to neonates with HIE.