Folic acid, one of B-group vitamins is
considered to be essential to fetus.
What is folic?
If women in the reproductive age are
provided with enough folic acid daily, their children can reduce 70% of neural
tube defects (NTDs) including congenital malformations of the brain and spinal
cord.
Folic Acid is one of the B-group vitamins.
It is in natural available foods and in the form of folate compound and
synthetic form in vitamin pills.
Dark-leaf
vegetables are plenty of folate.
Food has folate includes orange juice, green-leaf
vegetables, nuts and breakfast grains.
Human body easily absorbs synthetic-form
folic acid compared to the natural ones.
Folic acid’s role
Up to now, researchers haven’t found out the
reason why folic acid is able to prevent congenital malformations. But, it’s
been proved that it have the ability to prevent the risk of getting neural tube
defects, NTDs in short, and other typical disease like: spinal fracture (top
paralysis in children) and anencephaly which is able to bring infant death due
to the underdevelopment brain and skull lack.
Folic
acid in vitamin is easily absorbed.
Besides, folic acid also helps prevent the
fetus from heart defects, cleft lip and cleft palate.
In addition, during pregnancy, folic acid
supports fast development of placenta particularly and the fetus’s development
in general. Especially, the nutrients support DNA producing for babies.
One of studies shows that if the pregnant
is 2-3 times lack folic acid, there are many chances that they’ll have the
premature birth or their babies’ weight is lighter than other babies’ whose
mothers received enough folic acid.
The suitable levels of folic acid
Many health organizations recommended that
each woman needs to absorb, at least, 400 mcg of synthetic-form folic acid per
day, in average.
The pregnant should absorb 600 mcg/day. The
levels should be remained before you decide to get pregnant by using
multivitamin or stimulate having cereals for breakfast.
Some foods are rich in folic acid, such as:
·
Fruits and fruit juices
·
Green-leaf vegetables, especially dark-green
leaf such as broccoli
·
Beans: green peas, peanuts…
·
Asparagus
·
Sunflower seeds
·
Breakfast cereals
·
Noodles
·
Rice
·
Bread
Pregnant
women shouldn’t forget to add some beans in your daily meal.
If you gave birth and had one of NTDs
symptoms, before getting pregnant again, you should see a doctor for
recommendation about suitable levels of folic acid that you should provide
yourself.
Some studies show that drinking 4mg folic
acid for at least 1 month before getting pregnant and in first trimester can
reduce 70% the risk of having the second child infected with NTDs.
Add more folic acid before getting pregnant
You should provide yourself with folic acid
in 1 year before getting pregnant as standard. This could minimize the risk of
premature delivery from 50% to 70%. There’re about 13% of premature birth cases
every year. So, it’s a pity that your pregnancy is so out of control that your
future baby won’t receive essential nutrients.
Provide
yourself with foods that contain folate.
There’re many ways to add folic acid to
your daily diet. It could be eating food that contains folate (natural form of
folic acid) or taking pills of multivitamin.
However, you still have to take notice at
the level of folic acid that you add and make sure it is enough.
