According to the March of Dimes, about 3,000 pregnancies in the U.S. are affected by neural tube defects each year.
Dr. Mary Beth Janicki, Section Chief of Maternal Fetal Medicine, St. Francis Hospital, joined FOX 61 Good Day Connecticut to talk about how to prevent those problems.
The rates are highest among Hispanics: Latina women are roughly 20 percent more likely to have a baby with a neural tube defect compared to non-Latina white women.
Up to 70 percent of neural tube defects can be prevented if all women who can become pregnant consume 0.4 mg/day of folic acid at least a month prior to conception and during the first trimester of pregnancy.
Folic acid is a B vitamin that is used by the body to manufacture DNA. DNA is required for rapid cell division and organ/tissue formation in the developing baby.
Two-thirds of women in the United States report consuming insufficient levels of folic acid.
There are three ways women can get enough folic acid:
- Take a vitamin supplement containing 0.4 mg folic acid daily.
- Eat a fortified breakfast cereal daily which contains 100% of the recommended daily amount of folic acid.
- Increase consumption of foods fortified with folic acid.
Folic acid-rich foods include: fortified breakfast cereals; enriched bread, rice, pasta and other grain products; orange juice; green vegetables; and legumes such as navy beans, kidney beans, lentils and garbanzo beans.
A large glass of orange juice and a bowl of fortified cereal will provide 50-100% of the recommended daily amount of folic acid.
Other potential health benefits of folic acid intake at 0.4 mg/day include reducing risks related to heart disease, stroke and some kinds of cancer.
