Preeclampsia and preterm birth risk may be reduced by calcium dose lower than current WHO standard (Only 500 mg needed)

Medical Xpress / Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health / y, New England Journal of Medicine ^ | Jan. 10, 2024 | Wafaie Fawzi et al

[ConservativeMind]

To help prevent preeclampsia and preterm birth—common complications in pregnancy that can be fatal to women and newborns—low-dose calcium supplementation (equivalent to one 500-milligram pill per day) may be as effective as the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended high-dose calcium supplementation (equivalent to three 500-milligram pills taken throughout each day), according to a study.

Calcium supplementation is estimated to halve a pregnant woman's risk of developing preeclampsia and reduce an infant's risk of being born preterm by 25%.

The researchers conducted two randomized, double-blind trials of 11,000 pregnant women in India and 11,000 pregnant women in Tanzania.

All of the participants were pregnant for the first time, putting them at higher risk for preeclampsia. Starting at less than 20 weeks of pregnancy, they received monthly supplies of daily calcium supplementation, consisting of either three 500mg calcium pills or one 500mg calcium pill and two placebo pills.

The study found that low-dose calcium supplementation was as effective as high-dose calcium supplementation in preventing the risk of preeclampsia. In the India trial, the incidence of preeclampsia was 3.0% among women taking 500mg of calcium daily and 3.6% among women taking 1,500mg of calcium daily. In the Tanzania trial, the incidence of preeclampsia was 3.0% and 2.7%, respectively.

The findings on preterm birth were mixed. In the India trial, the incidence of preterm birth was 11.4% among women taking 500mg of calcium daily and 12.8% among women taking 1,500mg of calcium daily, indicating a similar effect of the two doses. In the Tanzania trial, the incidence of preterm birth was slightly different: 10.4% and 9.7%, respectively.

However, when the researchers pooled the data from both trials, they found the effect of low-dose supplementation was not significantly different on preterm birth compared to high-dose supplementation.

[ConservativeMind]

1/3 the calcium achieves nearly the same outcome.

Choose less.

[ConservativeMind]

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[BobL]

“Choose less.”

I agree. My wife, who comes from halfway around the world, pointed out that her culture has been having babies for THOUSANDS of years (ever since they started keeping written records, if not before), and for 99% of those years, no one told the moms to megadose when they were pregnant...but they sure had babies, and far more often than today, for that matter.