Background The Department of Health recommend that all pregnant women should be taking 400 micrograms of vitamin D daily.

Aim To establish the level of knowledge that doctors possess on the impact of vitamin D deficiency, diagnosis and appropriate management.

Methods A survey via survey monkey, comprising of 10 questions to test these various aspects, was sent to all levels of doctors in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at University Hospitals of Leicester.

Results We received 34 responses between October–December 2013. 35% of doctors did not normally assess women for deficiency and 32% indicated that they assessed only high-risk pregnant women. When asked whether they routinely advised pregnant women to take vitamin D supplements, 15% did not and 62% only advised high-risk women. The survey also highlighted a lack of knowledge on doses required for treatment. Only 24% knew the prophylactic and deficiency doses to prescribe.

Conclusions The results suggest that doctors are not well informed on different clinical aspects of vitamin D. This will therefore be acting as a major barrier to meeting guidelines on supplementation but also identifying and treating deficiency during pregnancy.