Study: Vitamin D May Protect Placenta

LOS ANGELES—In a recent study, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) found supplementing the diet of pregnant women with vitamin D may enhance placental immunity and protect it from infection.
“Although the precise function of vitamin D within the placenta remains to be defined, data from this study suggest that local synthesis of [the active form of vitamin D] may play a key role in placental innate immunity,” said the researchers. “We further postulate that improvement of maternal vitamin D status through dietary supplementation may act to potentiate placental innate immune responses during pregnancy.”