A comparison of vitamin D levels in two antenatal populations in regional Western Australia: 'Tjindoo Ba Thonee Thurra'*: Sunshine for the pregnant belly

Background: There is a known increased risk of vitamin D deficiency in darker skinned people living in in temperate latitudes, but there is limited literature specifically on Australian Aboriginal women and their vitamin D status in pregnancy. Method: This paper reports the findings of a prospective cohort study comparing vitamin D levels in a group of pregnant Aboriginal women with a group of pregnant non-Aboriginal women living in the same town in Western Australia. Results: Aboriginal patients from the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service (ACCHS) had lower serum vitamin D levels (mean 46.7, SD 21.7 nmol/L), compared with their non-Aboriginal women (mean 65.4, SD 18.4 nmol/L, P <0.0001). The difference was 11.5 nmol/L (P = 0.0078) after controlling for confounding variables. Conclusions: We believe this is the first study to compare vitamin D levels in pregnant Aboriginal women with non-Aboriginal women living in the same community at temperate latitude.