Does folate help with prevention of pregnancy complications?

Folate is vital to making the DNA in your cells. If the synthesis of DNA is disrupted, your body’s ability to create and maintain new cells is impaired. For this reason, folate plays an important role in preventing certain birth defects.

Folate is needed to create new cells so that the baby can grow and develop. For this reason, folate plays an extremely important role during pregnancy, particularly in the first few weeks after conception, often before the mother knows she is pregnant.

A deficiency during pregnancy can result in birth defects called neural tube defects. The neural tube forms the baby’s spine, brain, and skull. If the neural tube doesn’t develop properly, two common birth defects, anencephaly and spina bifida, can occur. In anencephaly, the brain doesn’t completely form so the baby can’t move, hear, think, or function. An infant with anencephaly dies soon after birth.

In spina bifida (see photo), the baby’s spinal cord and backbone aren’t properly developed, causing learning and physical disabilities, such as the inability to walk. Folic acid reduces the risk of these birth defects by 50 to 70 percent if consumed at least the month prior to conception and during the early part of pregnancy.

Research studies to date suggest that synthetic folic acid has a stronger protective effect than the folate found naturally in foods. Because 50 percent of pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, women at risk of becoming pregnant should consume 400 micrograms of synthetic folic acid daily from fortified foods (enriched grains, cereal, bread, rice, pasta) or supplements, along with a diet high in naturally occurring folate.

Women with a family history of neural tube defects should, under the guidance of their physicians, take even larger amounts.