Do you know the basic facts about
Folic Acid? Most women do not know they need to take folic acid every day before a woman is pregnant to avoid birth defects. If folic acid is taken before and during the first few weeks of pregnancy you can prevent birth defects of the baby's brain and spine from happening.
Folic Acid Basic Facts:
Folic Acid is a B vitamin that helps your body's cells grow. The baby needs folic acid to help support the rapid cell growth needed to make the tissue and organs of the baby.
Folate and folic acid are both a B vitamin. Folate is the form of the B vitamin found in foods. Folic acid is the form of the B vitamin that is made and used in vitamin supplements and added to fortify foods.
When folic acid is used prior and during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy you decrease your baby's chances of having spina bifida, anencephaly and neural tube defects by 70%.
Women who are planning to get pregnant should consume 400 micrograms of folic acid
everyday. Start your folic acid 4 weeks before conception and continue for 12 weeks after conception.
There are three main ways to make sure you getting enough folic acid to prevent spina bifida and other NTDs. First, you can take a vitamin with 400 micrograms of folic acid each day. Second you can make sure you eat a breakfast cereal that is fortified with 100% the daily value of folic acid. Third you can make sure you are eating foods fortified with folic acid such as cereal, bread, rice , pasta and other grains. Make sure to add orange juice and green vegetables as well.
Each year 4,000 women give birth to an infant with an NTD. You can decrease your changes by 70 % if you consume
folic acid when planning consumption.
