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A study in Norway has identified a link between a mother's vitamin A levels and her baby's birth weight. The study shows that over 43% of the women had low vitamin A levels during the latter part of their pregnancy. While almost no one had levels classified as a severe vitamin A deficiency, two out of five had insufficient levels. The study examined 723 women who experienced entirely normal pregnancies.

"We found a clear, unambiguous link between low vitamin A levels in the mother and high birth weight in the child. It is important to emphasize that while these factors appear to be connected, we cannot definitively state that one causes the other," says Astrid Kamilla Stunes, a researcher at NTNU and the dental health center TkMidt in the Trondheim region.

Many of the women who gave birth to babies with a high birth weight also had lower than average levels of vitamin A throughout their pregnancy, as compared to mothers of infants with normal birth weight.

Vitamin A is an important nutrient for both mother and child during pregnancy.

"Excessively high levels can lead to fetal malformations. In the worst-case scenario, a severe deficiency can result in the child being born blind. It is extremely rare for anyone to reach these extremes in Norway. As with many other things in life, the key is to stay in the middle, and to get just the right amount," says Stunes.

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