Vitamin C Deficiency During Pregnancy can Damage Baby's Brain

Researchers reveal that vitamin C deficiency during pregnancy can lead to permanent fetal brain damage.

The finding is based on experiments conducted by researchers from the University of Copenhagen on pregnant guinea pigs and their pups.

Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid), which acts as an antioxidant, is vital for the growth and repair of tissues in the whole body. According to health experts, the human body cannot produce or store vitamin C. So, following a diet rich with vitamin C is the only solution for this problem.

Researchers chose guinea pigs for the study as they cannot produce vitamin C. At the end of the study, they found even a marginal deficiency of vitamin C during pregnancy permanently damaging the fetal brain.

"Even marginal vitamin C deficiency in the mother stunts the fetal hippocampus, the important memory centre, by 10-15 per cent, preventing the brain from optimal development," professor Jens Lykkesfeldt, head of the research, said in a news release. "We used to think that the mother could protect the baby. Ordinarily there is a selective transport from mother to fetus of the substances the baby needs during pregnancy. However, it now appears that the transport is not sufficient in the case of vitamin C deficiency. Therefore it is extremely important to draw attention to this problem, which potentially can have serious consequences for the children affected." 

To examine the power of vitamin C in repairing the brain damage after birth, Lykkesfeldt and colleagues provided pups of vitamin C-deficient guinea pigs with vitamin C supplements. However, the medication after birth didn't help in improving the condition.

According to the Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health, women aged between 14 and 18 should get 80 mg of vitamin C daily during pregnancy and 115 mg during lactation. For women above 19 years, the recommended level of vitamin C during pregnancy is 85 mg and 120 mg during lactation.

Findings of the study have been published in the scientific journal PLoS ONE.