Don't Forget to Take Your Folic Acid Pt. 2

If any of my longtime loyal readers remember, I once had a post about the importance of taking folic acid. This shall serve as a continuation of that post with the hope of educating anyone who might be thinking of having a baby.

One of the first things I did after I found out the wife was pregnant for a second time was to go to the vitamin shop and purchase a bottle of prenatal vitamins and folic acid for her. I still clearly remember our scare with spina bifida when the wife was pregnant with Caitlyn, and I certainly do not want a repeat of that. Ideally, a woman should begin taking folic acid when she’s thinking about becoming pregnant, so we were already behind the curve. Therefore, not another moment could be wasted.

At first, the wife was very good about taking her vitamins. I’d leave them out on the table for her in the morning and would also text her after I got to work as a reminder. However, after one of her visits to the obstetrician, she came back stating that the doctor said the vitamins provided no real benefits and that there was no need to take them. The wife immediately welcomed this as she has never really liked taking anything that’s not natural. She began taking the vitamins intermittently and if I would remind her about it, she’d get defensive and cite the obstetrician’s words to give herself credence.

This went on for a bit until I got fed up with it and asked her to give me evidence and research that showed taking folic acid wasn’t useful. Unsurprisingly, she couldn’t. Therefore, I took it upon myself to compile a bunch of facts to show her that taking her prenatal vitamins was important. All the following was taken from respected medical and health organizations.

1. Taking a prenatal vitamin with the recommended 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid before and during pregnancy can help prevent birth defects of your baby's brain and spinal cord. Take it every day and go ahead and have a bowl of fortified cereal, too.

2. Birth defects occur within the first 3-4 weeks of pregnancy. So it's important to have folic acid in your system during those early stages when your baby's brain and spinal cord are developing.

3. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that you start taking folic acid every day for at least a month before you become pregnant, and every day while you are pregnant.

4. It may help reduce their baby’s risk for birth defects of the brain and spine called neural tube defects (NTDs).

5. All women, even if they’re not trying to get pregnant, should take folic acid.

6. It's hard to get all the folic acid you need from food. Even with careful planning, you might not get all the vitamins you need from your diet alone. So even if you eat foods that have folic acid in them, take your multivitamin each day, too.

7. The CDC reports that women who take the recommended daily dose of folic acid starting at least one month before conception and during the first trimester of pregnancy reduce their baby's risk of neural tube defects by 50 to 70 percent.

Thankfully, after sending the wife my list and having her read over it, she agreed to start taking her vitamins regularly again. Our unborn child is going to owe me big time for this one.

Speaking of unborn child, we now know that it’s going to be a girl!!! And with that, I officially submit the name Hannah for your consideration.