Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Centre report in the online edition of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism that pregnant women who are deficient in vitamin D are more likely to need a Caesarean section.

More exactly, women with low levels of vitamin D in their bodies were twice as likely to have the operation as women with no such deficiency.

Vitamin D helps the body metabolize calcium playing a central role in bone formation. Recently, studies have linked vitamin D deficiency to a series of diseases including cancer, high blood pressure, multiple sclerosis, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, and diseases of the nervous system.

The study involved 253 women, 43 (17 percent) of whom had a Caesarean section. The researchers found that 28 percent of women with serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25 (OH) D] less than 37.5 nmol/L had a Caesarean section, compared to 14 percent of women with 25 (OH) D greater than 37.5 nmol/L.

“In our analysis, pregnant women who were vitamin D-deficient at the time of delivery had almost four time the odds of Caesarean birth than women who were not deficient,” said study author Dr. Michael Holick, director of the General Clinical Research Center, a professor of medicine, physiology and biophysics, and an assistant professor of medicine.

Previous research has linked Vitamin D deficiency with proximal muscle weakness and suboptimal muscle performance and strength, which may help support the new findings.

Besides supplements, vitamin D can also be found in fish, fortified cereals and milk and eggs but anyone who enjoys as much as 10 minutes under the sun’s rays will have the right amount of vitamin D in his body, of course taking care not to get burnt.