Maternal Vitamin D Status and Gestational Weight Gain as Correlates of Neonatal Bone Mass in Healthy Term Breastfed Young Infants from Montreal, Canada

The implications of maternal gestational weight gain (GWG) and vitamin D status to neonatal bone health are unclear. We tested whether maternal 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) and GWG relate to neonatal bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD). Healthy term appropriate for gestational age breastfed neonates (n = 142) and their mothers were recruited 24–36 h after delivery and followed at 1.0 ± 0.5 month. At birth, obstetric data were collected and newborn serum 25(OH)D was measured. At 1 month, neonatal whole-body (WB) BMC, WB BMC relative to body weight (WB BMC/kg), lumbar spine BMC and BMD, maternal and neonatal 25(OH)D concentrations, and anthropometry were measured. Infant BMC and BMD between maternal 25(OH)D (<50, ≥50 nmol/L) and GWG (insufficient, adequate, and excessive) categories were compared. Maternal 25(OH)D was not related to infant whole-body BMC, BMC/kg, lumbar spine BMC, and BMD. Infants in the excessive maternal GWG category had greater (p = 0.0003) whole-body BMC and BMC/kg and lumbar spine BMC and BMD than inadequate GWG, and greater (p = 0.0063) whole-body BMC/kg and lumbar spine BMC and BMD than adequate GWG. These results suggest that maternal GWG, but not vitamin D status, modestly relates to bone mass in neonates.