Folic acid and pregnancy

Folic acid is the superhero of pregnancy! Taking prenatal vitamins with the recommended 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid before and during pregnancy can help prevent birth defects in your baby's brain and spinal cord. Take it every day and also eat a bowl of fortified cereal.

What is folic acid?

Folic acid is a man-made form of the B vitamin called folic acid. Folate plays an important role in the production of red blood cells and helps your child's neural tube grow in their brain and spinal cord. The best food sources of folic acid are fortified cereals. Folic acid is found naturally in dark green vegetables and citrus fruits.

When should I start taking folic acid?

Birth defects occur during the first 3-4 weeks of pregnancy. Therefore, it is important to have folic acid in the body during the early stages of your baby's brain and spinal cord development.

If you talked to your doctor when you were trying to conceive, he probably advised you to start taking a prenatal vitamin with folic acid. One study found that women who took folic acid at least a year before pregnancy reduced their chances of having an early birth by 50% or more.

You start taking folic acid every day at least a month before pregnancy and every day during pregnancy. However, all women of childbearing age take folic acid daily. So you'd better start taking it even earlier.

Not all prenatal vitamins are the same, and some may contain more or less of the vitamins and minerals you need.

How much folic acid should I take?

The recommended dose for all women of childbearing age is 400 micrograms of folic acid per day. If you take a multivitamin every day, check if it contains the recommended amount. If for some reason you don't want to take a multivitamin, you can take a folic acid supplement.

Here is the recommended amount of folic acid each day during pregnancy:

When trying to get pregnant: 400 mcg
For the first three months of pregnancy: 400 mcg
From the fourth to the ninth month of pregnancy: 600 mcg
When breastfeeding: 500 mcg

What are the benefits of folic acid?

Without enough folic acid in your body, your baby's neural tube may not close properly and they may develop health problems called neural tube defects. This includes:

Spina bifida: incomplete development of the spinal cord or vertebrae
Anencephaly: incomplete development of the main parts of the brain

Infants with anencephaly usually do not live long, and children with spina bifida may be permanently disabled. These are frightening problems, to say the least. But the good news is that getting enough folic acid can protect your baby from neural tube defects by at least 50%. If you've already had a baby with a neural tube defect, taking enough folic acid can reduce your risk of having another baby with a neural tube defect by 70%. If you have ever had a child with a neural tube defect, it is recommended that you increase your daily folic acid intake to 4,000 mcg (equivalent to 4 mg) each day. Check with your doctor how much you should be taking.

When taken before and during pregnancy, folic acid may also protect your baby from:

Cleftlip and palate
Premature birth
Low birth weight
Miscarriage
Intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR)

Folic acid has also been suggested to reduce the risk of:

Pregnancy complications (One report found that women who took folic acid supplements during the second trimester had a reduced risk of preeclampsia.)
Heart disease
Stroke
Some types of cancers
Alzheimer’s disease