Calcium Supplementation in Pregnancy: A Systematic Review of Clinical Studies
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Calcium is an essential mineral that plays a vital role in fetal development and maternal health during pregnancy. The World Health Organization recommends a daily calcium intake of 1.5-2 g for pregnant adult women. Calcium deficiency during gestation may lead to complications, such as gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, loss of bone mineral density, impaired fetal development, and other adverse pregnancy outcomes. The aim of the present review is to evaluate the current clinical evidence on calcium intake during pregnancy. Methods: The present systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA 2020 statement by searching two major databases, PubMed and Mendeley. The study protocol was registered in the Open Science Framework (DOI: osf.io/rvj7z). Inclusion criteria were clinical trials on calcium supplementation during pregnancy. Exclusion criteria were clinical guidelines, reviews, case reports, case series, letters, and commentaries. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the risk of bias in the included studies. Results: Initially, 451 publications were identified, and after removal of duplicates and screening of titles and/or abstracts and/or full texts, 34 studies were included. The number of participants ranged between 30 and 22,000 women. Calcium supplementation was associated with lower incidence of and less severe gestational hypertension and preeclampsia, lower risk of preterm birth, longer pregnancy duration and higher…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a systematic review, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid. Reported size: 22,000 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Development of a crushable foam model for human trabecular bone
- Data-driven motion compensation in HR-pQCT.
- Modeling of structure, quality, and function in the orthodontic patient
- Exploring the mechanism of Heidihuang Pill in the treatment of osteoporosis based on network pharmacology, molecular docking, and experimental validation
- Effect of fabric on the accuracy of computed tomography-based finite element analyses of the vertebra
- Use of interventions involving virtual reality tasks during the climacteric: a systematic review
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.