Objective: To investigate the vitamin A status of pregnant mothers, lactating mothers, preterm and term infants who were being fed exclusively on breast milk.
Design: Systematic/cross sectional.
Setting: Vitamin A research laboratory, animal science research laboratory, University of Zimbabwe, and Harare Central Hospital.
Subjects: 105 pregnant mothers attending the antenatal clinic at Harare Central Hospital for a routine check up were recruited for the study. Two groups of infants: those born at term and those with gestational age < or = 36 weeks.
Main outcome measures: Serum retinol levels of infants/mothers pairs. Breast milk retinol levels.
Result: The serum retinol levels for the infants were similar irrespective of age with a mean of 26.15 +/- 9.78 microg/dl. There was no statistically significant difference. The mean serum retinol levels of infants and mothers were significantly different, (p = 0.001). With mother/infant ratio of serum retinol concentration of 1.7:1. Maternal serum retinol levels correlated positively with infant serum retinol levels, r = 0.728. Forty four percent of the preterm and 17% of the term infants had serum retinol levels < 20 microg/dl, indicating deficiency, 2 and only 20% of the infants had retinol levels > 40 microg/dl.
Conclusion: The majority of infants might be at risk of vitamin A deficiency. Increased intake of vitamin A in pregnant women is necessary, and direct vitamin A supplementation of infants should be considered.