Baby Care Blog

Pregnancy by Darran Mccague. He everyone, in case you don't know, January is Birth Defects Prevention Month. The March of dimes has teamed up with the grain foods foundation in an effort to help woman better prepare for their pregnancy. In a joint press release article given to PRnewswire on January 5th the two foundations expressed their desire to help women better understand the association between birth defects and diet. Central to their argument is the link between Folic Acid and a decrease birth defects.

Studies are showing that there is a direct link between Folic Acid and healthy babies. The Press release states that Birth defects of the spinal cord and brain can be avoided by a healthy diet that is rich in Folic Acid. The Article further states that " Between 1995 and 2002 neural tube defects (NTDs), including spina bifida, have declined by 36 percent in Hispanics and 34 percent in white, non- Hispanics. Yet Hispanic women are 50% more likely than white, non-Hispanic women to have a child born with these serious birth defects of the brain and spine. Folic acid fortification of enriched grains was mandated in the United States in 1998 and since then products -- like bread, crackers, bagels, pasta and tortillas -- made from enriched white flour have been important for growing fetal development. In fact, enriched grains have been fortified with twice the amount of folic acid found in whole grain products." The assertion made in the article is that the increase in Folic acid will better prepare the body for pregnancy... even before conception.

This is not the first time that we have heard of a link between the benefits of a healthy pregnancy and Folic Acid... If you would like to read the article on Folic Acid yourself you can get the link here: Folic Acid Article If you have not already done so, we suggest that you look into finding some ways of adding Folic Acid into your diet before and during pregnancy.