Folic Acid Is Helping Prevent Neural Tube Defects

Women who are thinking of becoming pregnant should add a folic acid supplement to their regular diet. Statistics show that many birth defects are declining due to this addition, particularly neural tube defects (NTDs).

The number of babies born with a type of serious birth defect has fallen by an estimated 35 percent since the United States began fortifying grains with this type of vitamin B.

"All women capable of having a baby should be taking a multivitamin containing folic acid every day," advised Siobhan M. Dolan, M.D., MPH, coauthor of the first March of Dimes book Healthy Mom, Healthy Baby: The Ultimate Pregnancy Guide. "It's also good to eat foods that contain folate, the natural form of folic acid, including lentils, green leafy vegetables, black beans, and orange juice, as well as foods fortified with folic acid, such as bread and pasta, and enriched cereals."

A separate paper, "Supplement Use and Other Characteristics among Pregnant Women with a Previous Neurol Tube defect-Affected Pregnancy-United States, 1997-2009," published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) found that among women who had a prior baby born with an NTD, those who took high-dose folic acids of 4 milligrams or higher with a subsequent pregnancy were less likely to have a baby with an NTD than those who did not take folic acid.

Women who are thinking about becoming pregnant should talk with their doctor about increasing their folic-acid supplementation at least four weeks before becoming pregnant and continuing on and into the first trimester of pregnancy, according to Science Daily. The March of Dimes shows that roughly 3,000 pregnancies are still affected by NTD's.

More information regarding the findings can be seen via Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR).

For more great nature science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).