The relationship between maternal nutritional status and spontaneous abortion
Neela, J.; Raman, L.
National Medical Journal of India 10(1): 15-16
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0970-258X PMID: 9069700 Document Number: 472670
The association between maternal vitamin status and spontaneous abortion was investigated in a case-control study conducted at the Government Maternity Hospital in Hyderabad, India. 115 women with first- or second-trimester spontaneous abortion comprised the study group, while another 115 pregnant women matched for age, parity, and gestational age, attending the outpatient department of the same hospital, served as controls. Both serum levels of riboflavin and folic acid and the prevalence of deficiencies of these two vitamins (84% and 25%, respectively) were similar between the two groups. Serum vitamin A levels were significantly higher (p 0.01) among cases than controls (53.6 and 44.3 mcg/dl, respectively), with a progressive increase among cases with increasing gestational age. The incidence of anemia (hemoglobin level under 11 gm/dl) was low (11%) in both groups. Although the role of increased vitamin A levels requires further investigation, these results suggest that various nutrient deficiencies are unrelated to the occurrence of spontaneous abortion.