The Correlation between Calcium Levels of Pregnant Women Whom Take Adequate and Inadequate amount of Dietary Calcium and Their Neonate

Abstract

Calcium is an element that is a fundamental part of the body and its importance is related to the functions it performs in bone mineralization, primarily related to bone health which include formation and maintenance of the structure and rigidity of the skeleton. For many years, women have been advised to increase their calcium intake substantially  during  pregnancy,  and  there  has  been  concern  that  many  pregnant women  do  not  ingest  enough  calcium  to  maintain  their  own  skeletons  while providing for fetal needs.  Aims of the study: To evaluate the effect of dietary calcium on maternal calcium level and their neonate. Patients and Methods: 146 pregnant women were recruited from Sammaraa General hospitals during the period November 2016 – May 2017. Maternal and their neonate blood samples were taken at delivery. The serum was assayed for calcium. All the women were in the last trimester of gestation (37  – 41 weeks). Results: Our study showed that although 63.01% of pregnant women didn't get adequate amount of dietary calcium < 500 mg per day, but the serum calcium levels stay within normal ranges. Conclusions: We concluded that the pregnancy women have the ability to adapt to wide ranges of calcium intakes and still meet the fetal demand for calcium.