16 Sep Why is Folic Acid so Important to My Baby’s Development?
September 12-18 is Folic Acid Awareness Week with the National Birth Defects Prevention Network.
Did you know that all women of reproductive age should be taking 400 mcg of folic acid every day?¹ This is because many women are nutrient deficient in folic acid, which is a B vitamin. When women who are deficient in this vitamin become pregnant, their babies are at risk for neural tube defects.
Neural tube defects are a serious birth defect. The tube develops very early in pregnancy, in the 3rd and 4th week, and later becomes the spine and brain. This is why babies with neural tube birth defects are born with anencephaly (brain defects) or spina bifida (spine defects). It’s also why taking a folic acid supplement before getting pregnant is so important. The fetus’s neural tube develops before most women even know they are pregnant.
You may be wondering if you can get enough folic acid from your diet. As I mentioned, most American diets are deficient in this B vitamin. Foods naturally high in folate are leafy greens, beans, lentils, asparagus and broccoli, and citrus fruits, to name a few. Folic acid, the synthetic form of folate, is well absorbed and present in many fortified or enriched foods, like OJ, breakfast cereal, bread, pasta and rice.
You can get 400 mcg of folic acid in your average multivitamin. Since 50% of pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned, it’s a good idea to take a multivitamin regularly so that your body has plenty of folic acid on board in case you become pregnant. Folic acid is also available as an individual supplement, if you prefer to take it that way. Many prenatal vitamins have 600 mcg of folic acid. If you are planning on becoming pregnant, start a prenatal vitamin at least 3 months before trying to conceive and continue daily throughout your pregnancy (and postpartum too!).
If you are high risk, you should take 4000 mcg of folic acid daily three months before you become pregnant and three months afterwards. High risk Mamas are those who have had a baby with a neural tube defect, or the pregnant person or partner has a neural tube defect. Studies show this amount of folic acid can reduce the risk of your baby having a neural tube defect by 70%!² If you fit into the high risk category, be sure to inform your provider so s/he can help manage the risks more closely.
The best prevention for neural tube defects in pregnancy is two fold. Consume foods naturally high in folate; that’s a varied and colorful diet with a wide range of citrus fruits, green vegetables, beans and legumes. And take a supplement of 400 mcg of folic acid every day.
REFERENCES:
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). June 2022. Folic acid. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/about.html#:~:text=Why%20folic%20acid%20is%20important,and%20spine%20(spina%20bifida).
- March of Dimes. May 2020. Folic acid. https://www.marchofdimes.org/find-support/topics/pregnancy/folic-acid
- Photo by Any Lane: Halves of Papaya on Green Background. https://www.pexels.com/photo/halves-of-papaya-on-green-background-5945731/
