Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Sep 5;44(6):1183-1190.
doi: 10.5937/jomb0-55601.

Vitamin D status among pregnant women of North Macedonia: Assessing deficiency rates and associated risks factors

Boshku Aleksandra Atanasova  1 , Vasko Aleksovski  2 , Krstevska Slagana Simeonova  1 , Nikolovska Elena Gjorgievska  1 , Igor Samardjiski  1 , Markova Ana Daneva  1
Affiliations

Vitamin D status among pregnant women of North Macedonia: Assessing deficiency rates and associated risks factors

Boshku Aleksandra Atanasova et al. J Med Biochem. .

Abstract
in English, Serbian

Background: Vitamin D is an essential vitamin that plays a key role in maintaining overall health. During pregnancy, the demand for vitamin D increases to support the growing needs of the fetus. Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent in pregnant women worldwide. Our study aimed to evaluate the vitamin D deficiency rate among pregnant women in the Republic of North Macedonia, along with influencing factors.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study of randomly selected pregnant women with different body mass indexes among vitamin supplementation users and non-users in two different seasons.

Results: A total of 309 pregnant women aged > 18 years were recruited from June 2022 to April 2023, with an average vitamin D concentration of 38.9 (36.6-40.2) nmol/L. During winter, 80.8 % of pregnant women had vitamin D deficiency.

Conclusions: Even though more than 77.3 % of pregnant women consume multivitamins containing vitamin D, vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent among pregnant women, especially among obese pregnant women and during the winter months.

Uvod: Vitamin D je esencijalni vitamin koji igra ključnu ulogu u održavanju opšteg zdravlja. Tokom trudnoće, potreba za vitaminom D se povećava kako bi se zadovoljile rastuće potrebe fetusa. Deficit vitamina D je veoma rasprostranjen među trudnicama širom sveta. Cilj ove studije je bio da se proceni stopa deficita vitamina D kod trudnica u Republici Severnoj Makedoniji, kao i faktori koji na njega utiču.

Metode: Sprovedena je prospektivna studija na nasumično odabranim trudnicama sa različitim indeksom telesne mase, u dva različita godišnja doba, među korisnicama suplemenata vitamina D i onima koje to nisu.

Rezultati: U istraživanje je uključeno ukupno 309 trudnica starijih od 18 godina, u periodu od juna 2022. do aprila 2023. godine, sa prosečnom koncentracijom vitamina D od 38,9 (36,6-40,2) nmol/L. Tokom zimskog perioda, deficit vitamina D je utvrđen kod 80,8 % trudnica.

Zaključak: Uprkos tome što više od 77,3 % trudnica konzumira multivitamine koji sadrže vitamin D, deficit vitamina D je i dalje veoma prisutan, posebno kod gojaznih trudnica i tokom zimskih meseci.

Keywords: 25(OH) vitamin D; deficiency; pregnancy; supplementation; woman.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

All the authors declare that they have no conflict of interest in this work.Conflict of Interest: The authors stated that they have no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this article.

References

    1. Deshpande S, Ross S, Rajesh S, Kallioinen M. Maternal and child nutrition: Nutrition and weight management in pregnancy, and nutrition in children up to 5 years-summary of new NICE guidance. BMJ. 2025 2025 Mar 14 | https:// www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng247;389:r954–r954. doi: 10.1136/bmj.r954. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Karras S N, Wagner C L, Castracane V. Understanding vitamin D metabolism in pregnancy: From physiology to pathophysiology and clinical outcomes. Metabolism. 2018;Sep;86:112–123. doi: 10.1016/j.metabol.2017.10.001. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Agarwal S, Kovilam O, Agrawal D K. Vitamin D and its impact on maternal-fetal outcomes in pregnancy: A critical review. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr. 2018;Mar 24;58(5):755. doi: 10.1080/10408398.2016.1220915. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bärebring L, Bullarbo M, Glantz A, Hulthén L, Ellis J, Jagner Å, Schoenmakers I, Winkvist A, Augustin H. Trajectory of vitamin D status during pregnancy in relation to neonatal birth size and fetal survival: A prospective cohort study. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth. 2018;Feb 13;18(1):51. doi: 10.1186/s12884-018-1683-7. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Aghajafari F, Field C J, Kaplan B J, Rabi D M, Maggiore J A, O'beirne M, Hanley D A, Eliasziw M, Dewey D, Weinberg A, Ross S J. The Current Recommended Vitamin D Intake Guideline for Diet and Supplements During Pregnancy Is Not Adequate to Achieve Vitamin D Sufficiency for Most Pregnant Women. PLoS One. 2016;Jul 1;11(7):e0157262. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0157262. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources