Pregnant or not, you need
to take folic acid.
| Why? |
- Because it helps to prevent serious
birth defects that affect the spinal column and
brain.
- Because it could help protect you
against heart disease, cervical cancer, and colon
cancer
|
| When? |
- Every day, especially during the
weeks before conception and the first weeks of pregnancy.
|
| How much? |
- 400 mcg of folic acid alone or in
a multivitamin every day, accompanied by a healthy
diet that includes fortified cereal, orange juice,
beans and green vegetables.
|
It benefits you now, and your future
baby.
Adapted from March
of Dimes
****
Latina Health
| My body is my treasure, that’s
why I take folic acid. |
- A folic acid pill or a mulitvitamin
that contains 400 mcg of folic acid every day helps
to form healthy cells and this is a great benefit
to your health.
- According to some studies, folic
acid could help to prevent cervical cancer, colon
cancer, and in some women, breast cancer.
- Folic acid could help to protect
you from the risk that some women run, especially
latinas, of having a baby with certain birth defects.
- If you become pregnant without having
planned it, folic acid would be helping to protect
your future baby during the first month of pregnancy,
when the spine and brain form.
- Even if your diet is healthy and
balanced, you need to take 400 mcg of folic acid
each day.
|
Adapted from March
of Dimes
****
Frequently Asked Questions
What is folic acid?
Folic acid is a B-vitamin.
The recommended amount to help to prevent spina bifida
and other neural tube defects is 400 micrograms (mcg)
of synthetic folic acid daily. There are easy ways that
women can be sure they are receiving sufficent folic
acid. |
- Take a vitamin with 400 mcg
of folic acid every day. Both folic acid pills and
multivitamins can be purchased in stores and pharmacies.
or
- Eat a cereal with 100 percent
of the folic acid that you need each day. Some of
those cereals are Total, Product 19, Cheerios Plus
and Smart Start.
and
- Eat a healthy and balanced
diet that includes fortified cereals, beans, orange
juice, and green vegetables.
|
Is it possible for women to get too
much folic acid?
There is no known existence of a
level of folic acid that is toxic. For example, women who
eat a fortified cereal (400 micrograms) and then take a pill
with 400 micrograms of folic acid, and eat a diet rich in
folate (the natural form of folic acid) would not have problems
with too much folic acid. Nevertheless, it is recommended
that women consume no more than 1,000 micrograms of synthetic
folc acid each day.
What are neural tube defects?
There are two types of neural tube
defects, spina bifida and anencephaly. Spina bifida and anencephaly
are birth defects that occur in the first four weeks of pregnancy
before most women know that they are pregnant.
Spina Bifida occurs
when the lower end of the nueral tube fails to close. Thus,
the spinal cord and back bones do not develop properly. Sometimes,
a sac of fluid protrudes through an opening in the back, and
a portion of the spinal cord is often contained in this sac.
Paralysis of the infant’s legs, loss of bowel and bladder
control, water on the brain (hydrocephalus), and learning
disabilities are among the disabilities associated with spina
bifida. Eighty to ninety percent of infants born with spina
bifida live. Despite varying degrees of disability, many lead
successful and productive lives.
Anencephaly is
a fatal condition in which the upper end of the neural tube
fails to close. In these cases, the brain either never completely
develops or is totally absent. Pregnancies affected by anencephaly
often result in miscarriages. Infants who are born alive die
very soon after birth.
For parents that have lost
a pregnancy or have had a child with spina bifida, anencephaly,
or encephalocele. (link to www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/spanish/spwk1.htm)
Adapted from the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental
Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
****
Myths about Folic Acid and Mulitvitamins
Multivitamins are expensive.
You don’t need to buy an
expensive vitamin to get the amount of folic acid that you
need. Store-brand vitamins are more economical and equally
effective. Look for one that contains 400 mcg of folic acid
(or folate).
Multivitamins……Don’t
they make you gain weight?
Taking a multivitamin with folic
acid each day will not make you gain weight. During pregnancy
it is normal to gain 25-35 pounds (11-16 kilos). This is
not the result of taking multivitamins.
Multivamins make you hungry or increase
your appetite.
Multivitamins don’t increase
your apetitie. Taking a pill with food will not make you
more hungry than normal.
The pills are too big.
There are multivitamin pills that
are small. Also, there are pills that you can chew, so you
don’t have to swallow them.
It is hard to remember to take them.
Put the vitamin bottle in a place
where you will see it – in the kitchen, near the telephone,
next to your toothbrush. Also, try to take it at the same
time each day, with breakfast, with dinner or when you brush
your teeth.
****
BE INFORMED!
The North Carolina Folic Acid Campaign
1-800-367-2229
March
of Dimes
1-888-MODIMES (1-888-663-4637)
Links
Latino/Hispanic Health in North
Carolina
www.ayudate.org/ayudate/salud.html
March of Dimes
www.nacersano.org
National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/spanish/default.htm
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