Vitamin D

You need Vitamin D to help your body absorb and use the calcium that you get from your food.

If you don’t get enough calcium and Vitamin D, your baby’s bones can be weak when they are born. Not enough Vitamin D can cause rickets which is a bone disease where bones are very soft and bend. It is very painful. The good news is that it can be easily prevented by getting enough Vitamin D. 

Where do we get Vitamin D?

We usually get Vitamin D from the sun through our skin. But, in the North we don’t get any sun during some parts of the year.  Even when it is sunny, the sun is often not strong enough for us to make the Vitamin D we need or our clothes are covering our skin so the sun’s rays can’t get through. 

This means we need to get Vitamin D from vitamin pills and from food. 

Vitamin D is in your prenatal vitamin. There is enough in your prenatal vitamin for the sunnier months of May to September. But, during October to April, we need more. Pregnant and breastfeeding women should take an extra Vitamin D pill, that is, 400 IU extra every day during October to April for a total of 800 IU. If you are not taking this, talk to your Nurse, Doctor, Midwife or Nutritionist about it. 

It is a good idea to eat foods high in Vitamin D too. 

Foods that have Vitamin D

• Fish
• Fish oil
• Milk
• Eggs

Bottom Line:

Pregnant and breastfeeding women in the North should take an extra Vitamin D pill, that is, 400 IU extra (in addition to the prenatal vitamin)for a total of 800 IU every day during October to April.