With pregnancy, expectant mothers begin to feel stressed about being able to provide for their babies. They become concerned about protecting themselves and being beneficial to their babies. For this reason, it is critical to replenish vitamin stores by paying attention to a balanced and regular diet! Your body's needs increase throughout pregnancy. Extra vitamins, minerals and nutrients are needed to maintain your body's order and support your baby's development. Although it should be taken from food as naturally as possible, you will need to take additional nutritional supplements during pregnancy. Folic acid is one of the nutrients that is especially important in the first trimester.
Folic acid is essentially a Vitamin B derivative; It takes part in blood production in the body. It also plays important roles in the formation of the basic building blocks of the cell and the construction and repair of DNA. Although folic acid is normally taken with food, supplements are needed during pregnancy to ensure the healthy formation of the baby's central nervous system. Even in a healthy pregnant woman, there are two substances that cannot be taken in sufficient amounts through the diet and need to be supplemented. One of these is folic acid.
The importance of folic acid during pregnancy is that it prevents neural tube defects (NTD). During the first few weeks of pregnancy, before most women know they are pregnant, the neural tube has begun to develop and even close. The neural tube forms the baby's brain and spinal cord, which are essential for the central nervous system. In some cases, this tube cannot close in some places, it remains open (spina bifida) or its upper part does not develop (anencephaly). All of these abnormalities are very serious. Sometimes it even causes serious congenital defects that are incompatible with life. This is where folic acid is important.
Considering that almost 50% of all pregnancies are unplanned, folic acid supplementation should start before pregnancy. The best way to achieve this is to ensure adequate folic acid intake for all women of reproductive age. The recommended adequate dose is for all women of reproductive age to take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily. Daily intake of 400 micrograms of folic acid should be started at least 1 month before the planned date of pregnancy and continued in the first 3 months of pregnancy. Such use reduces the risk of NTD in the unborn baby by 5%. It will reduce it by 0-70. Folic acid can be taken alone or from multivitamin supplements specially prepared for pregnancy. All you have to do is look at the content of your vitamin and see that it contains at least 400 micrograms of folic acid. If you have a previous history of a baby with NTD, you should share this with your doctor and change the supplement plan applied to you.
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