Folic acid and preterm birth

Folic acid could prevent prematurity

Folic acid (the synthetic form of the B vitamin folate) has long been recommended for women thinking of becoming pregnant. It lowers the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly, which involve the spine or brain.

However new research appears to show that it has another strong benefit – taking a folic acid supplement, either by itself or in a multivitamin, for a year before conceiving results in a 70% lower risk of delivering your baby between 20 and 28 weeks, and a 50% percent lower risk of delivering between 28 and 32 weeks.

“Obviously these findings are very exciting and very promising, not the least because of the simplicity of the findings and the ease of potential implementation,” says lead author Dr Radek Bukowski, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Folate is one of the B vitamins and helps the body to make healthy new red blood cells. It is found naturally in leafy green vegetables, broccoli, asparagus, and beans, peas, chickpeas, nuts, oranges, bananas and brown rice. Some breakfast cereals are fortified with the synthetic form (folic acid). Folic acid is more easily absorbed by the body than folate, and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) currently recommends that women trying for a baby should take a 400mcg daily folic acid supplement from one month before trying onwards, increasing to 600mcg daily once they become pregnant.

This new research suggests women and their babies would benefit from starting to take that supplement a year in advance of becoming pregnant.

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