vitamin D and pregnancy

All pregnant and lactating women should have their vitamin D levels checked because many of us are deficient and don’t know it.  Vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy has been linked with an almost 4 times higher Cesarean-section rate (J Clinical Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Mar; 94(3):940-5).  Maternal deficiency during pregnancy has also been correlated with low birth weight, pre-eclampsia (dangerously high blood pressure, swelling, protein in the urine, and in some cases maternal death), and gestational diabetes.