When should pregnant women take folic acid supplements?

Most people know that there are many things that women need to pay attention to during pregnancy. Many factors in life during this period can affect the healthy growth and development of the fetus in the expectant mother's belly. Especially in terms of diet, we should not only pay attention to what cannot be eaten, but also consume some nutrients needed during this period. Many expectant mothers do not know how to supplement folic acid. So, when should pregnant women supplement folic acid?

First, when should pregnant women supplement folic acid? It must be taken one month before pregnancy. The purpose of emphasizing that the medication should be started before pregnancy is to maintain a certain level of folic acid in women's bodies to ensure a better folic acid nutritional status in the early embryo. According to research, it takes 4 weeks for women's folic acid deficiency to be corrected after taking folic acid. In this way, during the sensitive period of fetal neural tube formation in early pregnancy, sufficient folic acid can meet the needs of nervous system development, and it is necessary to take it consistently during the sensitive period of the first three months after pregnancy to achieve the best preventive effect.

Second, American nutritionists recommend that pregnant women eat a banana every day because bananas are rich in folic acid, vitamin B6, potassium, magnesium and other substances. Take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily if necessary until the third month of pregnancy. Researchers at the California Institute found that if women take 400 micrograms of folic acid daily before pregnancy and during the first 1 or 2 months of pregnancy, the incidence of cleft lip and cleft palate defects in the fetus can be reduced by 25% to 50%. Chinese scholars have found that folic acid deficiency in women in early pregnancy is one of the causes of congenital heart disease in children. If the mother supplements with 400 micrograms of folic acid every day within the first three months before pregnancy, the incidence of congenital heart disease may be reduced by 35.5%.

When should pregnant women supplement folic acid? The best time to supplement folic acid: take pregnancy as the critical point, supplement for three months before pregnancy and three months after pregnancy. Of course, some netizens have raised questions: What if you still don’t get pregnant after taking it for three months? The doctor said that folic acid is a B vitamin and is found in many foods. Eating more will not cause harm to people. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention points out that folic acid is an important way to prevent birth defects in babies. Women who are preparing to become pregnant and expectant mothers need folic acid (including natural folic acid and folic acid supplements). Pregnant women need four times more folic acid than normal people. If women take the recommended dose of folic acid every day at least one month before conception and during the first three months of pregnancy, they can reduce the risk of neural tube defects in their babies by 50% to 70%. Research suggests that taking a multivitamin that contains folic acid may reduce an expectant mother's risk of preeclampsia. Preeclampsia is a complication unique to pregnancy. Preeclampsia is a hypertensive disease unique to pregnancy that affects 5% to 8% of expectant mothers.