PREVENTION: Folic acid helps prevent a kind of birth defect known as "neural tube defect," which occurs when the spine or skull fail to fully develop and close. The most common neural tube defect is spina bifida. The number of neural tube defects could be reduced by 70 percent if all women took the recommended amount of folic acid.
RECOMMENDED AMOUNT: The U.S. Public Health Service and March of Dimes recommends all women of childbearing years take 400 micrograms (or .4 milligrams) of folic acid daily. Since a normal diet is not adequate to meet this requirement; a multivitamin or folic acid tablet is recommended.
Because most neural tube defects occur during the first month of pregnancy – before most women know they are pregnant – it is necessary for all women capable of becoming pregnant to take folic acid. (About half of all pregnancies are not planned.)
OTHER BENEFITS: Recent studies suggest folic acid may also help prevent heart disease, stroke and certain cancers.
KENTUCKY: About 1 in every 500 babies born in Kentucky have neural tube defects, compared to 1 in every 1000 nationally. An estimated 100 babies are born with neural tube defects in Kentucky each year.
KIDS NOW: Early Childhood Initiative provided $1.5 million a year during the next two years (2000-2002) to give folic acid tablets to women at local health departments.
Contact: Dr. Steve Davis – (502) 564-4830 or Linda Lancaster – (502) 564-2154.