Procedure
Inclusion criteria were: admission for delivery and signed informed
consent from the mother, and if married also the father, to analyze
25(OH)D and to enter the medical records from both the mother and the
newborn. Women were excluded if they did not speak Arabic, English or
Urdu. Maternal venous blood was collected together with the routine
blood sampling at admission to the labor ward and for the fetus, paired
umbilical cord blood samples were collected directly after
delivery in pre-heparinized syringes on unclamped cord. Before
discharge, the mothers answered a questionnaire in the presence of
research officials regarding education, physical activity, time spent
outside, compliance, importance of vitamin D supplementation to the baby
and her plan to breastfeed (Appendix 2, not all data processed for this
article). Data was entered into a specific study database from the
electronic medical record (Cerner, Missouri, USA).