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Mom's diet & exerciseThe importance of folic acidFolic acid is one of the B vitamins. It is found in citrus fruits, leafy green vegetables, and fortified cereals, breads, and grain products. Each year in the U.S., 4,000 pregnancies are affected by birth defects of the spine and brain, called spina bifida and anencephaly. Spina bifida is a defect of the spinal column that occurs during the first 28 days of pregnancy. It can lead to serious disabilities, such as deformities in the knees or feet, paralysis in the feet and legs, incontinence, learning disabilities, and mental retardation. Babies with anencephaly do not develop a brain or only develop a partial brain. These babies die either before birth or shortly afterwards.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that up to 3,000 cases of neural tube birth defects could be prevented each year if women consumed folic acid each day before pregnancy and during the early months of pregnancy. Since half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are not planned, many women may not find out that they are pregnant until well after the ideal time to prevent these birth defects. As a result, the Public Health Service recommends that all women of childbearing age consume 0.4 mg of folic acid each day to prevent spina bifida and anencephaly.
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