Folic Acid and Healthy Babies
Folic Acid…it's the stuff healthy babies are made of. It is estimated that 50 percent of all pregnancies in the US are unplanned. Women who take the B-vitamin folic acid in the form of a vitamin supplement before conception and throughout pregnancy can help reduce the risk of preventable birth defects called Neural Tube Defects (NTDs).
NTDs are among the most common and serious birth defects that occur in the US, and North Carolina has one of the highest incidences of NTDs in the country. Since the neural tube closes during the first month of pregnancy, by the time a woman realizes she is pregnant and goes to see her physician, the critical period for NTD prevention through folic acid has passed. Any woman who is capable of becoming pregnant should be told about folic acid and its benefits, regardless of whether or not she is planning a pregnancy.
It has been proven that taking the B-vitamin folic acid in the form of a vitamin supplement before conception and throughout pregnancy can help reduce the risk of an NTD-affected pregnancy by up to 70%, reducing the risk of cleft palate, congenital heart defects and possibly low birth weight/prematurity. Folic acid is often labeled as folate on vitamin bottles and nutritional labels.
Folic acid or folate can be found in its natural form in foods such as orange juice, dark-green leafy vegetables, beans and grains. Folic acid is also found in multi-vitamins, fortified breakfast cereals, and enriched grain products and is better absorbed by the body. A woman would need to consume 10-15 servings of fruits and vegetables a day to get the recommended 400mcg of folic acid a day through her diet-the average US intake of fruits and vegetables is 3.4 servings per day. The best way to get the recommended daily amount of folic acid is by taking a multivitamin containing folic acid every day.
For more information, contact the North Carolina Folic Acid Council (1-800-849-2663) or March of Dimes Resource Center
(Sources: March of Dimes, Carolina Parent magazine, and the North Carolina Folic Acid Council.)