“Women often experience lower than normal levels of vitamin D during pregnancy,” said Andrew W. Geller, M.D., physician anesthesiologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles and senior author of the study. “We found that patients with low levels of vitamin D experienced an increase in pain during childbirth.”
According to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, vitamin D deficiency is common during pregnancy, particularly among high-risk groups, including vegetarians, women with limited sun exposure and ethnic minorities. Vitamin D is obtained largely from consuming fortified milk or juice, fish oils and dietary supplements.
Researchers measured the vitamin D levels of 93 pregnant women prior to delivery. All of the women requested an epidural for pain during labor. Researchers then measured how much pain medication each woman required during labor. The researchers then compared the quantity of pain medicine used by the women with higher levels of vitamin D compared to those with lower levels of vitamin D.
The study found that the patients with lower levels of vitamin D consumed more pain medication than patients with higher levels of vitamin D.
“Given the research results, prevention and treatment of low vitamin D levels in pregnant women may have a significant impact on decreasing labor pain in millions of women every year,” said Dr. Geller. “This topic needs to be revisited and additional research should be conducted to determine how we can improve the labor experience for women everywhere.”
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS®Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA®) is an educational, research and scientific society with more than 52,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology. ASA is committed to ensuring that physician anesthesiologists evaluate and supervise the medical care of patients before, during, and after surgery to provide the highest quality and safest care that every patient deserves.
For more information on the field of anesthesiology, visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists online at asahq.org. To learn more about the role physician anesthesiologists play in ensuring patient safety, visit asahq.org/WhenSecondsCount. Join the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2014 social conversation today. Like ASA on Facebook, follow ASALifeline on Twitter and use the hashtag #ANES2014.
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