Body For Baby Update: Vitamin D

As I continue to prepare my body to be ready to support a pregnancy I was gently reminded by a fellow midwife that I should get my vitamin D levels checked. I am not sure if that was a tease that since I am so white and never see the sun that maybe I should get checked... or if she really just checks every pregnant patient.

Well my friends, my midwife friend does check every single patient and I guess I also need to get out in the sun a little more.  I went and had my vitamin D level checked and it is 17!  Okay, so you may not know, but 17 is LOW. We want these levels to be at least over 30ng/ml, but 50 is optimal.

When women are deficient in vitamin D they often feel fatigued, imbalanced, achy, sore, and about a million other symptoms can come along with vitamin D deficiency.  However, when pregnancy women are vitamin D deficient that can lead to problems for their babies. Babies need vitamin D to help their little bodies grow.


http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/news-archive/2009/pregnancy-and-gestational-vitamin-d-deficiency/


I found this really cool article on vitamin D, actually a whole website- yes it is not fact and it isn't peer reviewed, but it has some good information as well. They do site a lot of peer reviewed articles and studies though. So read through it and make some educated decisions on vitamin D and the importance in your life.

I guess I am off to go buy some vitamin D to add to my sunshine.

AFP Question

I need a little input- I will be putting this out on facebook so I can get responses as well, but this is a topic I have no personal experience with.

Between 15-20 weeks there is a blood test that pregnant women can do that tests for the risk of trisomy 18, trisomy 21, and open neural tube defects. It is known as the "AFP test" or "downs syndrome test" and sometimes referred to as "triple screen" or "quad screen."

I have never had this test done in either of my pregnancies. This is a very personal decision and I don't think it is right or wrong. I just feel that I didn't need to have the test done.

But that is not what I am talking about, is it right or wrong. I am wondering how much do you think about the test? For those mothers who had the test done in pregnancy, did it weigh on your mind? Did your provider call and tell you the negative or positive results? Or just wait until the next visit.

In my office we only call if the levels are abnormal. We don't call to tell people their results were normal. We wait until their next visit to let them know. This is usually 4 weeks after the blood test was drawn. We get the results in the office within 2-3 days, but our patients wait 4 weeks for the answer. Is this okay? I don't really have time to call all the normal labs because of the amount of patients I have, but I could figure out a way.

It is okay that no news is good news? Or do you feel you need to know? Did you sit and wonder what the results were? Or did you not think about it again until the next visit?

I honestly don't know because I never had the test done. Please let me know your input so that I can better serve my patients.