Taking Vitamin D supplements during pregnancy could substantially reduce the chances of babies suffering from atopic eczema, according to a new study by Southampton researchers.
Babies had a lower risk of developing atopic eczema in their first year if their mothers took 1,000 international units (IU) of Vitamin D a day from when they were 14 weeks pregnant until they delivered. The effect was particularly seen in babies who were later breastfed for more than a month.
Researchers have published their findings in the British Journal of Dermatology.
Rise is atopic eczema
Atopic eczema is a chronic inflammatory condition that can have a large impact on sufferers, their families, and healthcare. It is estimated that one in six children aged one to five has atopic eczema, and there has been a global rise over recent decades.
The study at the University of Southampton MRC Lifecourse Epidemiology Centre and the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre is the first randomised, controlled trial to show evidence of reduced risk of atopic eczema in infants of mothers who took Vitamin D supplements during pregnancy.
More than 700 pregnant women took part in the research – with 351 taking the supplements from 14 weeks until they gave birth and 352 taking a placebo.
MAVIDOS study
The eczema research was part of the UK Maternal Vitamin D Osteoporosis Study (MAVIDOS). It was led by Professor Keith Godfrey, who recently received an MBE in The Queen’s Jubilee Honours for his work during the COVID-19 response.
Prof Godfrey said: “Our aim was to see whether taking 1000IU of Vitamin D (cholecalciferol) as a supplement during pregnancy would decrease the risk of atopic eczema in babies. We also wanted to establish whether breastfeeding had any effect on this.
“Our results showed that babies of mothers who received supplements had a lower chance of having atopic eczema at 12 months, which supports recommendations for Vitamin D supplements to be routine during pregnancy.
“We found no effect at 24 and 48 months suggesting that other postnatal influences might become more important beyond infancy or that the babies themselves might also need to be supplemented during the postnatal period for a sustained effect.”
Finding a positive effect
The MAVIDOS study also recently reported that taking the Vitamin D supplement during pregnancy had lasting benefits for the child’s bone density at four-years-old
Dr Sarah El-Heis, first author of the research paper, said: “We know that Vitamin D can affect the immune system and the proteins that make up our skin. We were interested to know if vitamin D supplements taken by pregnant women would have an impact on their child’s risk of atopic eczema.
“Our findings showed a positive effect, which was more evident in infants that breastfed. This may reflect supplementation during pregnancy increasing the amount of Vitamin D in breast milk.”