Question about folic acid and pregnancy?

Question

Hehe, I know the first thing everyone is going to stress, is taking prenatal vitamins. I do :) I was just on the net a while ago, and came across some info and now I can't find an answer. The thing is, I didn't find out I was pg until around 3 months... and I didn't start taking vitamins until shortly after I found out about baby... so does anyone know where I can find some info about what the chances are that it will have a detrimental effect on her? I mean I know there is always a chance... but then there is always a chance for a lot of things. And it's not like I wasn't getting any folic acid at all... I know I was regularly eating folic acid enriched cereal (cause I love cereal)... Some is better than none, isn't it? **shrugs** I was just wondering if anyone knows. Any help would be great. Thanks!

Answer 1

If a mother does not have enough folic acid in her diet, she is at higher risk to have a baby with an open neural tube defect. The most common type of neural tube defect is spina bifida (a hole in the spine). The spine forms around day 24 after fertilization. Most people do not realize that they are pregnant that early. If a woman is taking folic acid while she is trying to get pregnant, she can lower the chance that her baby will have spina bifida by about 70%!!! That is why doctors push folic acid so much.

Most breads and cereals are fortified with folic acid. Also, you can get it from dark, leafy green veggies, like spinach. If you have a healthy diet, you probably get a good amount of folic acid naturally.

About 1 in 1000 babies are born with spina bifida. Chances are that your baby won't have this type of birth defect even though you did not start taking prenatal vitamins right away. If you are very concerned about it, you may want to have your blood drawn for an AFP test between 16 and 18 weeks gestation. AFP can detect 80% of cases of open spina bifida. A good ultrasound can pick up even more cases, depending upon the baby's position and the training of the technician doing the ultrasound.

Keep in mind, genes play a role in some cases of spina bifida. If you have a family history of this birth defect, tell your doctor.

Answer 2

I think you should be alright. I was about 2 months along when I found out without taking prenatal vitamins and hardly any folic acid and my baby turned out okay. If you can't get into a doctor office soon, take the Flintstones for now. They work just as well! (that's what i took my entire pregnancy because the iron in the prenatals made me SICK)

Answer 3

I wouldnt stress about it becasue youcant go back in time, whats done is done. Although it would have been helpful to start taking in folic acid sooner its not gonna change anything. You are doing the best you can now by taking your vitamins and getting prenatal care, thats all you can do. Best of luck with your pregnancy :)

Answer 4

many women dont know until they r a few months pregnant that they r pregnant and end up having healthy babies.

u have the advantage in ur cereal, and probably u had other foods as well that contained folic acid or were enriched with folic acid.

an ultrasound (at 15 weeks i think) and amnio will help determine if there are any neural tube defects.

Answer 5

Folic acid does help keep babies from having deformities but I wouldn't worry about not knowing for the first three months. A lot of women do not see a doctor until their 3rd month and they have perfect babies. Good Luck and Congrats.

Answer 6

to be honest i didnt take my prenatals on the regular with my kid and he is just fine. the prenatals are mainly for you, because the baby takes all the vitamins out of your body. so the prenatal is like an energy pill to keep you going and give you the extra nutrition.