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 The
B vitamin folic acid helps prevent birth defects. If a woman has
enough folic acid in her body before and while she is pregnant,
her baby is less likely to have a major birth defect of the brain
or spine.
Most women do not know how important folic acid is for their
bodies and for the health of a baby they might have in the future.
They also do not know that a woman needs to take folic acid every
day, starting before she is pregnant, for it to work to
prevent birth defects.
Birth defects of a baby’s brain or spine happen in the first few
weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman knows that she is
pregnant. That is why it is important for a woman to get enough
folic acid each day, starting before she is pregnant.
A woman’s body uses folic acid to make healthy new cells for her
baby. Scientists are not sure how folic acid works to prevent
birth defects, but they do know that it is needed for making the
cells that will form a baby’s brain, spine, organs, skin, and
bones.
Every woman needs folic acid for the healthy new cells her body
makes every day . . . even if she is not planning to get pregnant.
Date: November 16, 2005
Content source: National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental
Disabilities
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