Nutrition and Pregnancy: Folate Deficiency

Anything pregnant women eat will affect their baby's health. We live in a big city, which is rich in natural resources. Babies get some diseases due to malnutrition that are not common today. Pregnant women take about ten months to gestate your baby. During that time, they must pay attention to what they eat. When fetuses are malnourished, they will have birth defects and other problems such as slow growth, abnormal body development, premature birth and spontaneous abortion.

I would like to talk about some nutritional deficiencies and how they affect the health of a fetus in this blog.

Today's topic is folate deficiency because pregnant women still do not take in adequate folate. Folate deficiency can affect the baby’s brain and spine development. For instance, Spina Bifida is a birth defect of a person’s spine and is a type of neural tube defect (NTD) where the neural tube does not close all the way and cannot protect the spinal cord and nerves. There are two common conditions that may increase the risk of spina bifida including high fever during pregnancy and have taken the drug valproic acid to control seizures.

Spina Bifida has two forms: spina bifida occulta and spina bifida manifesta.

Most children who have spina bifida occulta are not adversely affected. However, if children have spina bifida manifesta, their spinal cords can be damaged easily.

source: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/spinabifida/facts.html

When pregnant women take enough folic acid before and during pregnancy, that can help prevent major birth defects of the baby’s brain and spine. It is important that everyone consume adequate nutrients, although folate isn’t toxic, it can mask a vitamin B12 deficiency.

sources: http://www.kabiassi.com/advice/index-63.html

According to The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (2010) it is recommended for pregnant women to consume 600 micrograms (mcg) of dietary folate equivalent daily from all sources such as beans, oranges, and dark-green leafy vegetables. Folic acid is the form added to foods such as fortified grain products.