Folic Acid and Pregnancy

Research shows that mothers with inadequate supplies of folic acid have given birth to children who have neutral tube defects. During the early 1980s, researchers started to successfully use folic acid supplements to reduce the risk of nervous system related problems in newborns. This shows that folic acid and pregnancy are closely related.

Why is Folic Acid Important During Pregnancy?
Here is a list of the benefits of folic acid during pregnancy, which will help you understand why folic acid during pregnancy is important.

• Folate or folic acid helps in preventing serious birth defects of the spinal cord and the brain, and neutral tube defects. The neutral tube defects occurs at a very early stage of development, even before many women know that they are pregnant. Hence, it is very important to start taking the recommended daily dosage of folic acid before one month of conception, to prevent any risk of neutral tube defect for the baby.
• Certain research on folic acid show that it can lower the risk of other common birth defects like cleft palate, cleft lip and certain heart defects of the baby.
• Apart from this, everybody needs folate for maintaining good health. Mothers by taking regular folic acid, can have normal red blood cells and prevent anemia.
• Folate is necessary for the production, repair and functioning of DNA, thus a good supply of folic acid is important for rapid cell growth of the placenta and the developing baby.

Folic Acid Recommendations
The dietary allowances of folate according to the age group is given below.

• During pregnancy for age 14 to 18 - 600 mcg per day
• During lactation for age 14 to 18 - 500 mcg per day
• During pregnancy for age 19+ - 600 mcg per day
• During lactation for age 19+ - 500 mcg per day

Source: Institute of Medicine

Foods High in Folic Acid
Here are some of the best sources of folic acid. Apart from the mentioned below natural folate rich foods, many fortified foods are available, which can be used to meet the daily requirement.

Some of the best sources of folic acid are romaine lettuce, spinach, asparagus, turnip greens, mustard greens, calf's liver, collard green, broccoli, beets, lentils, parsley, lentils, string beans, black beans and garbanzo beans.

Folic Acid Overdose
Folic acid is safe, and most adults don't experience any side effects while consuming the recommended folic acid dosage, however, high doses of folic acid can cause insomnia, abdominal cramps, nausea, confusion, behavioral changes, skin reactions, gas, irritability and other side effects. Hence, it is important that you stick to the recommended dosage.

Women who are obese are more likely to have a baby with a neutral tube defect, however the reason for this is still unclear. If you are highly overweight, consult your doctor before you conceive. The doctor will advise you to take more than the daily recommended amount of folic acid. If you previously were pregnant with a baby by a neutral tube defect, then tell your doctor about this before conceiving.

This risk can be significantly reduced by taking a large dose of folate, before one month of conception, continued for three months of pregnancy. The doctor will prescribe you a prenatal vitamin with 1 mg of folic acid, and three 1 mg folic acid tablets for one month before you try to conceive, and continuing it till the first trimester. If you are diabetic or on anti-seizure medications, then the risk of a pregnancy affected by neutral tube defect is more. Hence, consult your doctor about folic acid dosage before you conceive.