When to start folic acid before pregnancy
Folic Acid Is Vital To Getting Pregnant | Good Morning Britain
now here's something that will interest
you especially if you are interested in
getting having a baby anytime soon
folic acid has been long been known to
help us all maintain a healthy lifestyle
in particular those who are looking to
get pregnant well the British pregnancy
advisory service is calling on health
ministers to fortify our flower with the
essential vitamin saying that it could
prevent a thousand pregnancies being
affected by serious defects each year in
the UK there are already more than 50
countries worldwide where fortification
has been implemented and it would save
taxpayers an estimated five million
pounds a year right well for more we're
joined by our dr. Henry go keeping you
busy this morning Hill's
solook folic acid we know is useful to
take when pregnant I think perhaps the
message that hasn't been getting through
is you have to take it before you even
think about getting pregnant it's
absolutely vital because it's the
formation of the neural tube in the baby
that's the spinal cord and brain is that
tube which surrounds those sensitive
structures which forms in the very early
stages of pregnancy so if you haven't
got enough folic acid onboard yeah at
that point you run the risk of your baby
being affected by there's very serious
disorders by the time you know you're
having a baby it's probably too late
that's often the case and we have about
a thousand pregnancies affected by spina
bifida and anencephaly where the skull
and brain are properly formed every year
in the UK is 1 in 700 pregnancies and we
could reduce that significantly probably
by fortifying wheat flour with folic
acid it's so vital for women who are
thinking about getting pregnant and
pregnant women to be taking this but
what about everybody else I mean is
there a risk that you know it could have
side effects in other members of the
population it's it's really safe it's
it's it's it's um
a mineral which is present it's a
vitamin which is present in most foods
but it's in broccoli it's in spinach
peas chickpeas asparagus liver
we already fortify cereals with folic
acid very safe in large doses but we're
only talking about naught point 2
milligrams a day that's the recommended
amount but double that for a pregnant
woman yes so because that's one of the
things that I remember you and I talking
a few months back there was a report
wasn't there that suggested various
vitamins you take a supplement b12 and
folic acid
could increase risks of cancer but you
say that's not the case in the in the
sort of amounts we're talking about when
you fortify wheat flour we're not
talking about anything as well I thought
well if I think you're taking supplement
as well always be advised and look at
your diet and be advised by a healthcare
professional if you're taking
supplements of any kind but I think it's
a bit of a no-brainer and it's kind of
50 other countries are doing this we
already fortify wheat flour with calcium
with iron with B group vitamins folic
acid in there would really help with
this situation of spina bifida or
anything carefully taking so long to
come about because this is recommended
quite some time ago yes I mean there
have been objections to adding every
anything to foods is the objections
about Fleur I there's objections to
adding that to the water supply so it
has to be tempered against the the work
what we actually see epidemiologically
but I think the evidence is
overwhelmingly that the pretty young
British women who are the ones likely to
have babies are low in folic acid if you
if you look at their phallic acid I was
there on the low side compared to the
rest of Europe and that's one of the
reasons why we're seeing so many of
these birth defects and we can't change
that and the body can't store it you
need to have it every day
