What are the requirements for vitamin D in pregnant and lactating women?
Current research has shown that pregnant women are at high risk of vitamin D insufficiency and prenatal vitamins are inadequate in meeting these demands. Current vitamin preparations have approximately 200 to 400 IU of D. Experts recommend 1400 to 2000 IU of vitamin D per day in pregnancy. This can be accomplished with the regular prenatal vitamins in addition to another supplement. It has been suggested that breast feeding women whose infants only get vitamin D from breast milk, need to ingest 4000 to 6000 IU of vitamin D per day. Vitamin D levels should be obtained at the first prenatal visit along with the other prenatal blood work. If they are Vitamin D deficient, they should be treated with 2000IU f vitamin D in addition to their prenatal vitamins for 1–2 months and repeat the level to show that it is above 30mg/ml. With continued supplementation of 1000 IU of vitamin D per day, levels should be sufficient for the remainder of the pregnancy. Occasionally borderline individuals mig
