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Folic Acid Supplement During Pregnancy

Recent studies show that most women are not taking the recommended folic acid supplement during pregnancy. Folic acid is most important within the first 3 months of pregnancy, to prevent birth defects.

In fact, women of childbearing age are told they should be taking a folic acid supplement (and eating folate-rich foods), in case they become pregnant, planned or unplanned (do you know how many pregnancies are unplanned? 50% !! yikes!) :-)

Some women reported that they were not told by their doctors to take folic acid; others forgot. Researchers noted that there were no advertisements regarding folic acid, and if this is such a crucial supplement for women, it should be discussed more! I think it's ironic that some of the more heavily advertised drugs/supplements are for men and erectile dysfunction, yet women do not receive similar advertising messages.

But, I digress. If you are currently pregnant, are you taking folic acid supplements? Daily?! When I was pregnant, the nurse during my first appointment told me to buy a bottle of folic acid pills, take one daily, and then never mentioned it again. What was/is your experience?