Maternal and cord Vitamin B12 level and neonatal anthropometry.xlsx

Background : Malnourished pregnant women are at increased risk of micronutrient deficiencies. We assessed the vitamin B12 status in both malnourished and normally nourished pregnant women, and their neonates. Additionally we studied the association of maternal B12 levels, cord B12 levels and neonatal anthropometry . Methods : This cross sectional study enrolled 63 malnourished and 63 normally nourished mothers and their neonates. Maternal and cord blood samples were collected at the time of delivery for vitamin B12 estimation. Maternal and cord vitamin B12 levels were compared using Mann Whitney test. Neonatal anthropometry was correlated with maternal and cord B12 levels using Spearman’s correlation. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 25. Results : The mean maternal age was 26.58 yrs. The median cord B12 levels were lesser than the maternal B12 levels. Maternal B12 levels showed a strong positive correlation with cord B12 levels ( rho 0.879 p < 0.001 ). Maternal (p < 0.001) and cord (p < 0.001) B12 were significantly lower in malnourished group in comparison with normally nourished group. In malnourished group , 66.8 % mothers and 95.2 % neonates were vitamin B12 deficient where as 1.5% mothers and 4.7% neonates were Vitamin B12 deficient in normally nourished group. In malnourished group, maternal B12 levels showed positive correlation with birth weight (rho 0.363, p = 0.003) and length (rho 0.330 p =0.008 ) where as in normally nourished group cord B12 levels showed positive correlation with birth weight. (rho 0.277 p= 0.028 ) Conclusion : High rates of vitamin B12 deficiency was observed in malnourished mothers and their neonates .There was a positive correlation of birth weight and length with maternal vitamin B12 levels in malnourished mothers. These findings stress the need to address maternal malnutrition and vitamin B12 deficiency to improve neonatal health.