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Folic Acid

Folic acid, or folate, is one of the 'B' vitamins. It is essential to the normal development of an unborn baby's spine, brain and skull, especially during the first four weeks of pregnancy. Folate also supports a pregnant woman’s expanding blood volume and growing maternal and fetal tissues. Eating according to Canada’s Food Guide and taking a daily multivitamin with 400 mcg (0.4mg) of folic acid will help prepare for a healthy pregnancy and can reduce the risk of a baby developing neural tube defects. It is recommended that a supplement be taken at least three months before getting pregnant and throughout pregnancy. For more information on folic acid vitamins and pregnancy, please see the health unit's website on health before pregnancy.  These data come from the Canadian Community Health Survey.

Figure 1 below shows the percentage of recent mothers in Simcoe Muskoka and Ontario between 2000 and 2007 who took a folic acid supplement before their last pregnancy. In Simcoe Muskoka, between 54% (CI: 45%, 65%) and 69% (CI: 57%, 79%) of recent mothers took a folic acid supplement. This was not significantly different than the percentage in Ontario for these years.

Figure 1: