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Journal of Tropical Pediatrics 1998 44(4):232-234; doi:10.1093/tropej/44.4.232
© 1998 by Oxford University Press
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Maternal Vitamin A Deficiency and Infant Mortality in Malawi

Richard D. Semba, MD, MPH*,, Paolo G. Miotti, MD, MPH**, John D. Chiphangwi, MD***, Gina Dallabetta, MD, MPH**, Li-Ping Yang, MA**, Alfred Saah, MD, MPH** and Donald Hoover, MPH, PhD**

*Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland, USA
**Department of Epidemiology, School of Hygiene and Public Health, Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland, USA
***School of Medicine, University of Malawi Blantyre, Malawi

Dr Richard D. Semba, Ocular Immunology Service, Suite 700, 550 North Broadway, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA. Tel. 00 1 410 955 3572; Fax 00 1 410 955 0629

The relationship between maternal vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy and infant mortality is unclear. We conducted a prospective cohort study of 377 HIV-negative women and their infants in Blantyre, Malawi. Serum vitamin A levels were measured during the second or third trimester of pregnancy and infants were followed during the first year of life. From delivery until 12 months of age, 18 infants died (47.7 per 1000). Mothers of infants who died had lower serum vitamin A levels during pregnancy (0.74 ± 0.13 µmol/l) compared with mothers of infants who did not die (1.02 ± 0.03µmol/l) (p = 0.055). Infants born to women whose vitamin A levels were in the lowest quartile (< 0.32 µmol/l) had three-fold higher likelihood of mortality than infants born to women whose vitamin A levels were in the higher quartiles (p < 0.03). These results suggest that maternal vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy may contribute to higher infant mortality rates.


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