The importance of folic acid in pregnancy

• May 1, 2024

Folic acid is a vitamin that prevents malformations of head and spine during pregnancy.

The Ministry of Health stresses that women between 15 and 49 years take a pill daily before and during the first 3 months of pregnancy, thus protect your baby and bring great benefits to their development.

In addition, folic acid favors Health of the heart, prevents anemia and some types of Cancer .

The IMSS recommends the administration of folic acid to women who are planning to become pregnant during the previous three months.

Direct benefit

The consumption of folic acid prevents defects in the neural tube closure - the embryonic structure that will give rise to the spinal column - and which ends up being formed on the 28th day after conception.

Defects in its closure cause serious alterations in the embryo; the main defects are anencephaly (absence of brain mass), spina bifida (lack of closure of the spine in the back), or encephalocele (lack of union between the bones of the skull allowing the brain and meninges to be exteriorized).

Origin and daily dose

According to information from the Ministry of Health, this vitamin is found in foods such as oranges, spinach, beans, lentils, corn, veal liver or chicken, among others, and in some foods that have been enriched artificially as cereals. , wheat flour and some drinks.

However, the folic acid present in daily food is not enough to help protect women's health, so the Ministry of Health also recommends the daily intake of a 400 microgram tablet to obtain the amount of folic acid that it requires the body.

In Mexico, folic acid can be obtained free of charge in DICONSA stores and health centers and clinics.

Video Medicine: Prenatal Folic Acid and Schizophrenia Prevention (May 2024).