preventing birth defects

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

An Urgent Need for Folic Acid to Prevent Birth Defects!

Three out of four women don't take a multivitamin--
a simple act that could prevent serious birth defects in 3,000 babies each year

From the March of Dimes: "Women need the vitamin folic acid every day. Be sure you get enough by taking a multivitamin every day and eating a healthy diet."

ALL women of childbearing age should consume 0.4 mg. of folic acid daily to prevent common birth defects of the spine and brain.

The reason that ALL women between 15 and 45 years of age should consume enough folic acid is because half of all U.S. pregnancies are unplanned, and birth defects of the spine and brain occur early in pregnancy before most women realize they're pregnant.

Each year about 4,000 pregnancies in the U.S. are affected by birth defects of the spine and brain, spina bifida and anencephaly.

CDC estimates that up to 3,000 of these birth defects could be prevented every year if women consumed folic acid before pregnancy and early in pregnancy.

Last updated: January 5, 1998  For more information, please contact:

Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities
National Center for Environmental Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
4770 Buford Highway, NE
Atlanta, GA 30341-3724
Telephone: 770-488-7160
FAX: 770-488-7197
Email: ncehinfo@cdc.gov

Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities 
National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH)
CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION (CDC)