Folic Acid Requirements During PregnancyCurrent as of: November 20, 2015 Author: Healthwise Staff Medical Review: Sarah Marshall, MD - Family Medicine & Kirtly Jones, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology |
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Folic Acid Requirements During PregnancyIf you are pregnant or planning to get pregnant, your doctor may recommend that you take a folic acid supplement in addition to eating a regular healthy diet. Women who might get pregnant should get at least 400 micrograms (0.4 mg) of folic acid a day. Experts recommend that women take a daily supplement that has 400 to 800 micrograms. footnote 1 Women who are pregnant should get 600 micrograms (0.6 mg) of folic acid a day. footnote 2 Women who follow these recommendations are less likely to have babies with certain birth defects, especially neural tube defects . If a woman had a previous pregnancy with a neural tube defect, her doctor might recommend that she take a higher dose of folic acid during pregnancy.
Current as of: November 20, 2015 Author: Healthwise Staff Medical Review: Sarah Marshall, MD - Family Medicine & Kirtly Jones, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (2009). Folic acid to prevent neural tube defects. Available online: http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/uspsnrfol.htm.
Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine (2012). Dietary reference intakes (DRIs): Recommended dietary allowances and adequate intakes, vitamins. In LK Mahan et al., eds., Krause's Food and the Nutrition Care Process, 13th ed. St Louis: Saunders.
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