ABSTRACT

The level of knowledge the mothers had on the relationship between infant health and vitamin D was not satisfactory. Health care professionals, especially midwives and nurses, should increase the monitoring of mothers and infants regarding use of vitamin D and provide education and counselling to protect and improve the health of mothers and infants.

It was determined that 46.9% of the mothers received education on the use of vitamin D during pregnancy, with 30.1% of them stating that they received education from nurses or midwives. It was found that 88.1% of the mothers who had received education on the use of vitamin D used vitamin D supplements during their pregnancy, whereas 57.7% of the mothers who had not received any education did not use vitamin D supplements during their pregnancy (X²=32.28, p<0.05). Furthermore, 87.8% of the mothers gave oral supplementations of vitamin D to their infants, whereas 75.9% of them put their babies outside to increase their exposure to sunlight.

This descriptive study was conducted at six Family Health Centers in İzmir, Turkey. Data was collected using a questionnaire developed based on the literature by the researchers. The questionnaire was administered to 286 mothers who had registered to the centers and volunteered for participating in the study.

Vitamin D insufficiency affects almost 50% of the population worldwide. The groups most affected by this situation are infants, pregnant women, and elderly people. This study examines the knowledge and practices of mothers regarding the use of vitamin D for infant health.