While pregnancy is frequently portrayed as a lovely experience, it also involves significant physiological changes and possible health hazards for both the mother and the unborn child.

When it comes to pregnancy issues, preeclampsia is one of the most serious conditions that can occur.

Presumption can have major effects on the health of the mother and the fetus. It is characterized by elevated blood pressure and protein in the urine after the 20th week of pregnancy.

But according to new studies, taking supplements of calcium while pregnant may help lower the chance of developing preeclampsia.

However, the question still stands: What is the recommended amount of calcium supplements to ensure both optimal efficacy and safety?

Preeclampsia & What Causes It ?

A dangerous medical condition known as preeclampsia can develop approximately halfway through a pregnancy (after 20 weeks).

Preeclampsia is characterized by elevated blood pressure, proteinuria, headaches, edema, and blurred vision.

Pre-eclampsia, a vascular disorder occurring during pregnancy, stems from trophoblast invasion failure and inadequate deep placentation. 

Abnormalities in natural killer (NK) cell function and angiogenic imbalance also play a role in endothelial dysfunction.

Autoantibodies against angiotensin II receptor and platelet activation further exacerbate the condition.

Contributing factors include genetic predisposition, environmental influences, and lifestyle factors such as obesity, which can impair placental function and promote inflammation, increasing the risk of pre-eclampsia.

How Important Calcium Is?

Calcium is an essential mineral that supports many bodily physiological functions and is essential for keeping strong bones and teeth.

Because the growing baby depends on the mother's calcium reserves for healthy bone and tooth development, calcium becomes even more important during pregnancy.

Calcium may also be helpful in preventing diseases like preeclampsia, which are characterized by hypertension and aberrant muscle function. This is because calcium regulates blood pressure and muscle function.

Babies are born with around 300 bones, which eventually fuse into 206 bones in adulthood.

Calcium, essential for strong bones and teeth, is provided by the mother during pregnancy. Insufficient calcium intake during pregnancy can lead to future bone health issues like osteoporosis.

Your body needs calcium to pump blood throughout your body, contract muscles, produce hormones, and transmit messages from your brain to other bodily areas.

Calcium absorption is facilitated by vitamin D, produced when skin is exposed to sunlight.

During pregnancy, calcium absorption is regulated by maternal calcitropic hormones.

In Caucasian women with sufficient calcium intake, parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels decrease to low-normal levels in the first trimester, then rise to higher normal levels by the third trimester reflecting the increase in calcium transfer from mother to fetus.

The Rationale for Calcium Supplementation

A higher risk of preeclampsia has been linked to insufficient calcium consumption during pregnancy, according to a number of trials.

This is especially important in areas with poor dietary calcium consumption since pregnant women might not be able to get all the extra calcium they need from their diet.

Therefore, supplementing with calcium pills or other calcium-containing products may aid in closing the gap and lower the chance of developing preeclampsia.

To lower the risk of preeclampsia, the World Health Organization advises pregnant individuals in populations with poor dietary calcium intake to supplement with 1.5 g–2.0 g oral elemental calcium daily, divided into three doses.

Factors influencing supplementation include early antenatal care initiation, more antenatal visits, and partner support.

Encouraging systematic calcium supplementation, promoting calcium-rich foods, and involving male partners in antenatal care can improve adherence.

Low-Dose vs. High-Dose Calcium Supplementation

A point of debate among researchers and medical practitioners is whether low-dose or high-dose calcium supplementation is the best course of action for preventing preeclampsia.

Higher dosages of calcium supplementation, frequently exceeding 1500 mg daily, have been recommended by certain studies, while others have recommended low-dose supplements, usually between 500 and 1000 mg daily.

High-dose supplements are justified by the possibility that they can guard against preeclampsia more effectively by ensuring that the body has enough calcium.

Research Approaches

Many randomized controlled studies (RCTs) comparing low and high-dose calcium supplementation in pregnant women have been carried out by researchers in an effort to clarify this controversy.

In these trials, subjects are usually randomized to receive either a high or low dose of calcium supplementation, and their progress is tracked during pregnancy to evaluate outcomes like preeclampsia incidence, maternal and neonatal health, and any unfavorable effects related to calcium intake.

In both trials from India and tanzania, involving 11,000 nulliparous pregnant women each, low-dose calcium (500 mg) was found to be as effective as high-dose calcium (1500 mg) in preventing preeclampsia.

However, the risk of preterm birth was lower in the low-dose group in the India trial but not in the Tanzania trial.

The findings suggest that lower doses of calcium are noninferior to higher doses for preeclampsia prevention, though results vary for preterm birth.

One study suggests that high-dose calcium supplementation for pregnant women is more effective than low-dose supplementation in reducing the risk of preeclampsia.

One study revealed that prenatal calcium supplementation could reduce systolic blood pressure and impede linear growth in female offspring during childhood and adolescence.

This highlights potential gender-specific responses to maternal supplementation. Further investigation is needed to understand the lasting impacts across generations.

It is supported by existing literature and indicates a significant decrease in blood pressure, particularly in high-risk patients.

Overall, high-dose calcium appears preferable for preventing preeclampsia and eclampsia.

In summary

To sum up, there is potential for calcium supplementation to avoid preeclampsia in pregnant women, but the ideal amount is still unknown.

There is no discernible difference between low and high dosages of supplementation, according to some research, while others indicate that large doses may provide more protection.

Large-scale randomized controlled trials and other studies are required to define the role of calcium supplementation in avoiding preeclampsia and to develop dose recommendations based on solid data.

Healthcare practitioners should carefully consider the possible advantages and disadvantages of calcium supplementation in the interim, considering the unique circumstances and preferences of each patient.