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- [Instructor] If you are pregnant, you can take folic acid
to help prevent certain birth defects in your baby.
Folic acid and folate are two forms of the same B vitamin.
Folate is the form that occurs naturally in foods,
while folic acid is the manmade form
added to multivitamins and fortified foods.
Your body needs folic acid to help make new cells
including brain cells,
blood cells,
and DNA and RNA, the genetic material inside your cells.
During pregnancy, you need even more folic acid
because your baby's body needs it too.
Folic acid helps your baby's brain
and spinal cord develop normally.
Taking folic acid can significantly reduce the risk
of neural tube defects in your developing baby,
called an embryo at this stage.
The neural tube begins
as a tiny oval shaped piece of embryonic tissue
which folds into a tube about 28 days after conception.
When this tube closes properly, it continues to develop
into your baby's brain and spinal cord.
If the neural tube does not close
due to the lack of folic acid in your diet,
your baby may have a neural tube defect
such as spina bifida or anencephaly.
In spina bifida,
the neural tube fails to close at the bottom.
As a result, the parts of the spine
that enclose and protect the lower spinal cord
do not completely form, allowing the cord to protrude.
Children with this defect often require surgery
and have permanent disabilities
including leg paralysis, developmental delays
and nervous system problems.
In the condition called anencephaly,
the neural tube fails to close at the top,
preventing large parts of the brain and skull
from developing completely.
Babies with this defect are unable to live
and usually die before birth or soon after.
Folic acid may also protect against other birth defects,
such as cleft lip and palate, and atrial septal defect,
which is when a hole
between the right and left upper chambers of the heart
fails to close during development.
Because the neural tube develops so early in pregnancy,
often before a woman knows she's pregnant,
experts recommend all women who are able to become pregnant
take a daily multivitamin
containing 400 micrograms of folic acid every day.
During pregnancy, the need increases
to 600 micrograms of folic acid each day.
Experts recommend you take this multivitamin
in addition to the food folate in your diet
because your body does not absorb folate
found naturally in food
as easily as the manmade folic acid.
Caregivers will often prescribe
even 1000 micrograms of folic acid daily
to assure these minimal levels are covered.
Even more may be required in some groups of women
including those with previous miscarriages
and those women deficient in a folic acid metabolic enzyme.
Talk with your caregiver about the optimal dose for you.
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