What Does Folic Acid Do in Pregnancy

1. Folic acid is important for pregnant women because it helps to prevent birth defects of the brain and spine. All women of childbearing age should take 400 micrograms of folate (a form of folic acid) daily. Good sources of folate include leafy green vegetables, legumes, nuts, and fortified foods such as breads and cereals. Pregnant women should take a daily supplement that contains 600 micrograms of folate.
2. Women who have had a pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect should take a higher dose of folic acid, 4 milligrams (4,000 micrograms) daily. Folic acid supplements can be taken before and during pregnancy to help reduce the risk of neural tube defects. Talk to your doctor about how much folic acid you need to take.
3. So what does folic acid do exactly? Folic acid helps the baby's neural tube close properly. The neural tube is the part of the baby's developing brain and spinal cord.
4. If the neural tube doesn't close properly, the baby can have a birth defect called a neural tube defect. Neural tube defects include conditions such as spina bifida and anencephaly.
5. Spina bifida is a birth defect in which the spinal cord doesn't develop properly and can cause paralysis below the waist. Anencephaly is a birth defect in which the brain doesn't develop properly.
6. Birth defects of the brain and spine are serious and can be life-threatening. Folic acid can help prevent these birth defects.
7. All women who could get pregnant should take 400 micrograms (0.4 milligrams) of folic acid every day, even if they're not planning to get pregnant.
8. You can get folic acid from food or from supplements. It's important to get enough folic acid every day because it's hard to store in your body. That means you can't rely on getting enough from food alone, especially if you don't eat enough foods that contain it or if you have trouble absorbing it from food (such as with celiac disease).
9.  gofolic.org  to make sure you're getting enough folic acid is to take a supplement that contains 400 micrograms (0.4 milligrams) of folic acid every day in addition to eating foods that contain it"