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Natural Awakenings Richmond

Vitamin D Important for Reducing Risk of Preeclampsia

Pregnant woman practicing prenatal care

Storyblocks.com

Something as simple as a mother’s vitamin D level can have a future impact on her children, a study from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health shows. Researchers examined 20 years of health data from 754 Boston-area mothers and their children and found that preeclampsia—abnormally high blood pressure during pregnancy—was linked to a higher systolic blood pressure in the children during their early and teen years. However, the effect was minimized or even eliminated among children exposed to higher levels of vitamin D in the womb, as measured by blood levels in the umbilical cord.