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Folic Acid: Babies
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Folic acid is an essential vitamin found in meat, fresh fruit and vegetables. It is added to many breakfast cereals, of which one standard serving gives a quarter of the Daily Recommended Allowance (DRA). Research has shown that mothers who have a deficiency of folic acid in their diets may be at an increased risk of having a child with spina bifida, and that taking an extra daily dose of folic acid from at least 2 months before the conception of the baby can reduce the chances of this happening.
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Julia Flores of Chicago knows the benefits of folic acid. Her first child, 10-year-old Gabriel was born with a brain stem malformation. Her second baby, Nicholas, was born three years later with spina bifida and lived only three hours.
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Taking folic acid when you are pregnant protects your unborn baby from being affected by neural tube defects (N.T.D.) the most common being spina bifida. Spina bifida occurs when the baby's spine does not develop as it should, leaving a gap or a split. Depending on the type of spina bifida, the baby can either be stillborn, die shortly after birth or cause disabilities in the child.
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This recommendation is based on research which has shown that taking folic acid can help reduce the risk of having a baby with spina bifida. A few studies have ... indicated that folic acid may alter the likelihood of having a baby with a cleft but are no published guidelines as to what size of dose might be effective. CLAPA News bas therefore asked paediatrician Dr. Alex Habel and geneticist Dr. Melissa Lees to shed some light on the issue.
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