It has become fairly common knowledge that when gearing up to become pregnant increasing our intake of folic acid (a B vitamin) is important to aide in preventing birth defects in our offspring, neural tube defects specifically. So we are not suggesting that you take a vitamin every once in awhile – WE ARE STRONGLY RECOMMENDING THAT ALL WOMEN TRYING TO CONCEIVE OR PREGNANT TAKE FOLATE.
A new report from the US Preventive Task Force (USPTF) reaffirms this long-held belief.
On Jan. 10th the USPSTF released its final recommendation on folic acid supplements as a way to prevent birth defects after examining data from 24 studies on the benefits and potential harms of folic acid. The recommendations published in the Journal of the American Medical Association are as follows:
For women who are planning to or are capable of becoming pregnant take a supplement of folic acid of 0.4-0.8 milligrams (400-800 micrograms) daily.
For women on low carb and gluten free diets you may need to supplement at a higher daily dose.
Maternal Fetal Medicine physicians are recommending women w/ high BMI (Body Mass Index) of 35 or higher get high dose folate – 4 milligrams a day or 4,000 micrograms per day.
If a woman has any history of Neural Tube Defects, a seizure disorder or is on anti-seizure medications –4 milligrams a day or 4,000 micrograms per day is recommended.
Neural tube defects are major birth defects of the brain and spine that occur early in pregnancy due to improper closure of the embryonic neural tube, which may lead to a range of disabilities or death. The most common neural tube defects are anencephaly (an underdeveloped brain and an incomplete skull) and spina bifida (incomplete closing of the spinal cord). Daily folic acid supplementation in the periconceptional period can prevent neural tube defects.
Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate, a water-soluble B vitamin (B9). Folic acid is usually given as a multivitamin, prenatal vitamin, or single supplement. It is also used to fortify cereal grain products. Folate occurs naturally in foods such as dark green leafy vegetables, legumes, and oranges. However, most women do not receive the recommended daily intake of folate from diet alone. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data from 2003 to 2006 suggest that 75% of non-pregnant women aged 15 to 44 years do not consume the recommended daily intake of folic acid for preventing neural tube defects.
If you are concerned about what your folic acid intake should be we recommend you speak with your IRMS physician, your OB or Primary Care doctor.
Also covering this story are ACOG (1/10) (American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’)
OBGYN News (1/10, Moon); TIME (1/10) Sifferlin
