A new study has revealed that women who are deficient in vitamin D in the first 26 weeks of their pregnancy may be at risk of developing severe preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a potentially life-threatening disorder diagnosed by an increase in blood pressure and protein in the urine. In one of the largest studies to date researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health studied blood samples collected from 700 pregnant women who later developed preeclampsia in an effort to examine a woman’s vitamin D status during pregnancy and her risk of developing preeclampsia. Lead researcher Lisa Bodnar