Background: Preterm labor refers to the delivery before 37th week of pregnancy. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that about 15 million neonates are born preterm with about 1 million deaths occur during infancy. PTB infants who survive frequently suffer from chronic pulmonary diseases and learning deficits, causing heavy burdens for society and family. Preterm birth is one of the most serious medical complications of pregnancy.
Purpose: to compare serum 25 hydroxy vitamin D levels among patients with preterm delivery and women who have full term birth.
Patients and Methods: a case-control study was conducted at Ain Shams University Maternity Hospital from December 2017 to May 2018. It was carried out on 138 women post delivery recruited, they were divided into group of patients with preterm babies and other group with full term babies, 69 women in each.
Results: Mean level of 25 hydroxy vitamin D between preterm birth group was 4.4 ±2.5 ng/ml and between full term birth group was24.9±13.74ng/ml. Therefore, according to student T test and chi-square test, the current study found that there is significant difference in serum 25 hydroxy vitamin D levels between women with preterm birth and women with full term birth preterm birth.
Conclusion: from this study it can be concluded that vitamin D assay can be used for prediction of preterm birth and vitamin D supplementation can be used routinely in prevention of preterm birth.