When people plan to go on safari, what do they do? They go to their local travel clinic and find out what immunizations they should have. They do this months in advance of their trip.
Imagine pregnancy as your safari. ObGyns recommend that women make a preconception counseling appointment to review all the precautions you need to take before embarking on your “pregnancy trip.”
We may now need to talk to women pre-pregnancy about Vitamin D. A recent study published in the British Medical Journal is suggesting that low vitamin D levels in the mother during pregnancy may be linked to Multiple Sclerosis in her offspring.
Vitamin D is generated by ultraviolet radiation from the sun, so if the association is true, then a woman with less exposure to sunlight during the first trimester may be at risk of her child developing the disorder compared with women whose early pregnancies occur in sunnier months.
So when you see your doctor for your preconception counseling appointment or for your next annual exam, consider screening a vitamin D level and start supplementing now.
Access to the article here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21030361
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