Avoid birth defects with folic acid

When you're trying for a baby and in early pregnancy, a healthy diet is especially important.

Currently, women are advised to take a daily folic acid supplement and to continue for the first 12 weeks to help reduce the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs) such as spina bifida.

But as half of pregnancies in the UK are unplanned, many women don't take supplements or take them too late.

NTDs affect up to 1,200 pregnancies a year in the UK according to the Association for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (ASBAH).

Some foods such as breakfast cereals are fortified with folic acid and there are talks about whether it should be compulsory to add folic acid to flour to help improve women's folate intake.

Where this happens already, in the US, Canada and Chile, the number of babies affected by NTDs has fallen since the initiative was introduced.

ASBAH's ongoing campaign (see www.asbah.org) supports the compulsory fortification of white flour with folic acid.

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