Vitamin D Deficiency in the Pregnant Population at University Hospital Birmingham: Does It Justify Universal Screening?

Vitamin D deficiency is highly prevalent among pregnant women in this ethnically diverse Birmingham population. Most classical risk factors did not reliably predict deficiency, although multiparity emerged as a significant contributor. Given the high burden of deficiency, low cost of testing, and limited discriminatory value of existing risk-based criteria, universal vitamin D screening at booking may be justified. Further prospective studies are needed to evaluate the impact of universal testing and targeted supplementation on maternal and neonatal outcomes.