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Pregnancy and folic acid

If you are a woman who is thinking about having a child, then you should also know that pregnancy and folic acid are two things that go together in order to assure the health of your baby. However, you may not know why it is that pregnancy and folic acid are such a good combination. The reason that folic acid is important is because it is one of the B vitamins that is found in leafy green vegetables like spinach; but, it can also be found in enriched grains and orange juice. Most women take a folic acid supplement in the form of prenatal vitamins to help make sure they conceive a healthy baby.

Researchers have repeatedly looked at the link between pregnancy and folic acid and they have discovered that women who are trying to get pregnant should take at least .4 milligrams a day. They need to take this dose because it will work to help to significantly reduce the possibility that their child will be born with a birth defect. In fact, it reduced the risk of a child being born with a neural tube defect by up to seventy percent. This is something that is important because one of the most common neural tube defects that can be prevented by taking folic acid is spina bifida. With this kind of disease reduction you would think that a great number of women would realize that the connection between pregnancy and folic acid should actually start before conception.

So, if you are trying to have a baby, then you should think ahead of pregnancy and folic acid should be the supplement that you turn to in order to make sure that everything goes as smoothly as possible. Other neural tube defects that can be prevented by the ingestion of folic acid are an underdevelopment of the brain that is known as anencephaly, and a problem with the actual tissue of the brain protruding from the skull that is known as encephalocele. The fact of the matter is that early pregnancy and folic acid are so important because these neural tube defects occur in the first month of your pregnancy. If you have been taking folic acid beforehand then your body will be better prepared to make sure that the baby is conceived in as healthy an environment as possible.

Even if you are not thinking about pregnancy and folic acid you will want to make sure that you take enough folic acid for yourself. It is never bad to have high levels of folic acid, especially if you are in the age range where having a child is a possibility. This is because only about half of all pregnancies are ever planned, and any woman who has the potential to get pregnant should take care to also make sure that they are ingesting enough folic acid so that if they should conceive the baby will have the best benefits possible to live a healthy life.

If you want to make sure that your potential pregnancy and folic acid connection is strong, then there is no reason why you should start taking a supplement today. In fact, a lot of women take prenatal vitamins on a regular basis even if they aren’t thinking about getting pregnant because the vitamins and minerals in these pills can help to make your hair and nails as healthy as possible. There are several other benefits to your health if you are considering taking prenatal vitamins then those that are a result of pregnancy and folic acid, so you will want to be sure that you consider this dietary supplement regimen as something you can do to help your health.

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Last updated on Apr 5th, 2009 and filed under Reproductive Health. Both comments and pings are currently closed.