Research presented at ESHRE this week has focused on the significance vitamin D has in the area of reproductive health.
Italian scientists presented an interim analysis of a randomised trial, looking at vitamin D levels and how supplementation can affect clinical pregnancy rates. Although the sample size wasn’t large enough to find a difference in clinical pregnancy rate per cycle, it showed a significantly higher rate in good quality embryos produced by women who took a vitamin D supplement.
Japanese scientists focused their research on the effect vitamin D has on unbalanced maternal immune tolerance, which can result in implantation failure and miscarriage. They found that sufficient vitamin D levels in women could potentially prevent maternal immune rejection of the embryo, resulting in a successful pregnancy.
Fertility First has recognised the importance of sufficient vitamin D levels in both our male and female patients trying to conceive. Our clinic has routinely tested the vitamin D levels in all our patients as part of our preliminary assessment and has been doing so for over 10 years.
Foods that are rich sources of vitamin D include fatty fish such as tuna and salmon, cheese, egg yolks and orange juice.
