Vitamin D supplementation in pregnancy trial

A study led by senior research fellow, Dr Michael Binks, and his team will determine whether weekly vitamin D supplementation given to pregnant Indigenous mothers and their infants reduces the incidence of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in the infants’ first 12 months of life.

Vitamin D is a natural immune regulator, with previous studies by the team finding low levels at birth to be common and linked to a higher risk of childhood respiratory infection in the NT.

The D-Kids study is the first vitamin D clinical trial to be conducted among Indigenous Australian children. The study will validate the utility of vitamin D supplementation against infant ARI in this high-risk population, provide much needed evidence on vitamin D reference ranges in pregnancy and infancy and explore individual level variation in vitamin D utilisation.