Folic acid is a critical part of every pregnancy. This B Vitamin is known to help the neural tube in a fetus to fully develop and close. When there is a birth defect of the neural tube, the spine and brain of the infant are directly affected. There are two neural tube defects that are common: spina bifida and anencephaly. This birth defect happens very early on in the pregnancy.
Facts About Neural Tube Defects
1. The number of neural tube defects that are documented every year around the world: 300,000.
2. In the United States, 3,000 pregnancies are affected by neural tube defects every year.
3. Hispanic women have higher rates of neural tube defects than non-Hispanic women in the United States.
4. Children born with anencephaly die almost immediately after birth.
5. Spina bifida may not be as fatal, but it can cause a series of lifelong disabilities that can be very severe.
6. $706,000. That’s the estimated total care cost of a child over their lifetime when born with spina bifida.
7. Since folic acid has been added to food supplies in the US, the infant fatality rate due to neural tube defects has been reduced by 400 per year to a total average number of 840.
8. Increasing folic acid intake among women of childbearing age can help prevent more than 50% of the current neural tube defects that are seen every year.
9. The number of spina bifida cases that are seen in the US annually: 1,500.
10. 375. That’s the number of infants that are born with encephalocele, which is a neural tube defect that affects the skull and brain.
11. At least 50% of children with encephalocele have other birth defects present as well. 1 in 5 will be stillborn.
12. 1 in 4 children born with encephalocele will have normal intelligence levels and no apparent disabilities.
13. 0.4 mg of folic acid daily at least 80% of the time before and in the early stages of pregnancy reduces the risk of having a neural tube defect-affected pregnancy by 85%.
14. Out of the 3,000 neural tube defects that are seen annually in the US, it is believed 50-60% of them are preventable.
15. The chance that a pregnancy will be affected by a neural tube defect: about 1 in 500.
16. If a family already has a child with spina bifida or anencephaly, or if one of the parents has spina bifida, the risks of a child being born with a neural tube defect increases by 20x.
17. Folic acid provides its best results when it is taken at least 1 month before becoming pregnant and then throughout the pregnancy.
With over 20 years of research behind the benefits of folic acid, the CDC and food manufacturers have worked together to reduce the chances of neural tube defects occurring. Folic acid has been added to many breakfast cereals, flours, and even grits. The adding of this B Vitamin to foods has had a direct impact on the number of cases and deaths that are directly attributed to neural tube defects.
A vast majority of these birth defects happen in the developing world, many that have the fewest resources available to them. By knowing the facts about neural tube defects and providing resources to the developing world, many neural tube defects can be proactively prevented.
Start Taking Folic Acid Right Now
Even if women don’t think that they’ll be pregnant in the near future, having the right amount of folic acid every day right now can help a future pregnancy avoid a neural tube defect. It is recommended that all women who have reached childbearing age take 400 mcg of this B vitamin every day. It works because the vitamin helps the body make new cells. It is something that everyone needs to have in their diet, not just women who may become pregnant in the future.
How can women take more folic acid? Most multivitamins have the daily recommended amount. A prenatal vitamin will also have 100% of the daily values needed and even some breakfast cereals offer a 100% daily value of folic acid. Not every multivitamin or breakfast has the full recommended amount of 400 mcg, however, so it is important to read nutrition and ingredient labels carefully.
Folic acid is also sold as an independent supplement.
Many neural tube defects can still be prevented with active care and increased folic acid intake. For women of childbearing age, consider increasing the amount of folic acid in the diet right now so that if a pregnancy does happen, the statistics of preventing neural tube defects will be in your favor.