Folic Acid & Birth Defects: A Clear Connection

Pregnant women are bombarded with advice—from friends, family, colleagues, and their doctors—on what they should be doing in order to have a healthy baby. They’ll be told to avoid hot tubs and sushi, and to eat healthy and get lots of rest. Amongst all the advice, doctors will convey a vital piece of information: take folic acid.

Folic acid is a vitamin found in beans, peas, lentils, oranges, beets, and many other foods. This nutrient helps the body create and maintain cells, and helps prevent changes in DNA that may lead to cancer.

The absence of folic acid in a pregnancy may cause defects in the development of the neural tube, such as spina bifida. These neural tube defects can be detected in a noninvasive prenatal blood test through the elevated presence of a protein called AFP.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that women who take a daily dose of folic acid during pregnancy reduce their baby’s risk of neural tube defects by 70 percent. Research suggests that folic acid may lower a baby's risk of other defects as well, such as cleft lip, cleft palate, and certain types of heart defects.

Women are encouraged to take pregnancy supplements that include folic acid, in order to decrease their baby’s risk of spina bifida. The U.S. Public Health Service and CDC recommend that all women of childbearing age consume 0.4 mg (400 micrograms) of folic acid daily to prevent birth defects. Women who had a previous pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect are at a higher risk of having another affected pregnancy.

Ronald McDonald House Charities in Columbia, SC will be hosting their 12th Annual Red Shoe Run to benefit the health and wellbeing of children on January 20, 2018 at Hand Middle School. Register for the 10K and 5K races at www.strictlyrunning.com. Runners who register before January 3, 2018 will receive a T-Shirt. Come out and support children’s health!