The Importance of Folic Acid Before and During Pregnancy
Our bodies need folic acid all the time, but never more so than during the early weeks of pregnancy. Taking a daily prenatal vitamin with the recommended 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid before and during pregnancy can help prevent birth defects in your baby's brain and spinal cord. Folic acid, which is also called folate, is a B vitamin. Folic acid plays an important role in the production of red blood cells and helps your baby's neural tube develop into her brain and spinal cord. Birth defects occur early in pregnancy, within the first 3-4 weeks, so it's important to have folic acid in your system during those early stages when your baby's brain and spinal cord are developing. The CDC recommends that you start taking folic acid every day for at least a month before you become pregnant, and every day while you are pregnant. However, the CDC also recommends that women of a childbearing age take folic acid every day, so you'd be fine to start taking it ev