Rate of preterm birth in pregnant women with vitamin E treatment: a population-based study.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Vitamin E is frequently used for prevention/treatment of repeated or threatened abortion and threatened preterm delivery in Hungarian pregnant women, though, internationally this old-fashion method is not recommended.

METHODS:

The rate of preterm birth of newborns in pregnant women with high dose (estimated daily dose 450 mg) vitamin E treatment or without this treatment was compared in the population-based large data set of the Hungarian Case-Control Surveillance System of Congenital Abnormalities.

RESULTS:

Of 38,151 newborns with any defect, 2,287 (6.0%) had mothers with vitamin E treatment. Pregnant women with vitamin E treatment had very high rate of threatened abortion (43.6% vs. 15.4%) and high rate of threatened preterm delivery (27.5% vs. 13.4%) compared to pregnant women without vitamin E treatment. Nevertheless, the gestational age at delivery was 0.2 week longer and rate of preterm births was lower in the newborns of pregnant women with vitamin E treatment (6.6% vs. 9.3%; adjusted OR with 95% CI: 0.71, 0.63-0.84). This preterm preventive effect of vitamin E treatment could not be explained by known confounders, though folic acid/multivitamins also reduced the rate of preterm birth.

CONCLUSION:

The study showed nearly 30% reduction in preterm births of pregnant women with vitamin E treatment.

• Authors: Liza Bártfai, Zoltán Bártfai, Iván Nedeczky, Erzsébet H Puho, Ferenc Bánhidy, Andrew E Czeizel
• Journal: The journal of maternal-fetal & neonatal medicine : the official journal of the European Association of Perinatal Medicine, the Federation of Asia and Oceania Perinatal Societies, the International Society of Perinatal Obstetricians (J Matern Fetal Neonatal Med) Vol. 25 Issue 6 Pg. 575-80 (Jun 2012) ISSN: 1476-4954 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 22443476 (Publication Type: Evaluation Study, Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Vitamin E

Topics

• Adult
• Dietary Supplements
• Female
• Humans
• Incidence
• Infant, Newborn
• Maternal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena
• Pregnancy
• Pregnancy Complications (epidemiology, prevention & control)
• Pregnant Women
• Premature Birth (epidemiology, prevention & control)
• Prenatal Care (methods)
• Vitamin E (therapeutic use)
• Young Adult