Abstract:

Objective: Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) and folate are essential micronutrient for cellular growth and differentiation. In current sequential study, our aim is to determine the mean B12 and folate levels and prevalence of B12 and folate deficiency at each trimester in Turkish healthy pregnant women who did not use any supplementation. Method: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted between January-2016 and May-2017. Singleton pregnancies in the first trimester, not using any vitamin supplementation were included. Blood samples were collected at 10-14, 20-24 and at last 30-34 gestational weeks and vitamin B12, folate and homocystein levels were calculated. Results: In first trimester, we found out that 2.44%, in second trimester 2.41% and in third trimester 2.27% of patients had vitamin B12 deficiency (B12<126.5 pg/mL). There was statistically significant decrease in folate and homocystein levels in the second trimester compare to first trimester (p<0.001). Conclusion: The homocysteine level was found similar in the third compared to first trimester with a gradual increase from the second trimester value, this could be explained with the decrease in the B12 level in the third trimester. By the way, deficiency rates for B12 and folate were rare in Turkey after new health policy compared to other countries even without supplementation.