U. S. researchers have suggested that pregnant women should take 4,000 International Units of vitamin D daily.

Taking vitamin D supplements during pregnancy is not only safe for both mother and baby, but may prevent infections and pre-term labor/births, says study leader Dr. Carol Wagner of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.

Findings of the randomized-controlled study were presented in Vancouver at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies.

It has been reported that Wagner and colleagues randomly assigned 494 pregnant women at 12-16 weeks of gestation into three treatment groups receiving different amounts of vitamin D daily until delivery, 400 IU, 2,000 IU or 4,000 IU and also evaluated them monthly to ensure safety.

Wagner says in a statement, "No adverse events related to vitamin D dosing were found in any of the three arms of the study. The spectacular part of the study was it showed women replete in vitamin D had lower rates of preterm labor and preterm birth, and lower rates of infection."

It was further reported that since the greatest effects were seen among women taking 4,000 IU of vitamin D per day, the researchers recommend this as the daily regimen for all pregnant women. (With Inputs from Agencies)