Folic Acid: For your baby’s health

The additional intake of folic acid during pregnancy is particularly important for the healthy development of your unborn baby.
Folic Acid should be taken at least four weeks before pregnancy and during the first three months of pregnancy.

The Importance of Folic Acid

The body needs folate to form red blood cells and to support brain functions. Between the 21st and 28th days of pregnancy, the neural tube (the precursor of the spinal cord and brain) closes. . If not enough folic acid is available at this stage, malformations of the central nervous system such as spina bifida (“open back”) can occur or the formation of the brain may be incomplete.

Folate is the only known vitamin that can prevent spina bifida. In Central Europe, spina bifida occurs an average of 1 per 1,000 births. Girls are slightly more affected than boys.
Unfortunately, there is still a relatively high number of babies born with neural tube defects in Europe.

Experts believe that prevention alone could eliminate half of the annual cases occurring in Germany.
Several international studies have shown that the additional intake of folic acid during pregnancy reduces the risk of neural tube defects.

Der Körper benötigt Folat für die Bildung roter Blutkörperchen und die Unterstüzung der Gehirnfunktionen.
The additional intake of folic acid during pregnancy is particularly important for the healthy development of your unborn baby.

Therefore, gynecologists and IVF centres recommend that women who wish to have children take food supplements containing folate. The dosage is based on the recommendations of the German Society for Nutrition (DGE): Dabei richtet sich die Dosierung nach den Empfehlungen der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Ernährung (DGE):

  • Women who wish to become pregnant: 300μg Folic acid per day. The recommended intake can be achieved through naturally folate-rich foods. In addition, for example 400μg can be taken as a preparation for the prevention of neural tube defects.
    Early folic acid prophylaxis (4 weeks before the beginning of pregnancy) can reduce the risk of neural tube defects by about 70%. Other diseases such as heart defects or cleft lip and palate are also attributed to a deficiency of folic acid during embryonic development.
  • Pregnant women in the first trimester: The recommended daily intake is 550μg folic acid, which can be achieved by the targeted consumption of folate-rich foods. In addition, for example 400μg can also be taken as a preparation for the prevention of neural tube defects.
    In order to obtain the recommended amount of folic acid, pregnant women should consume folic acid-rich foods every day in addition to the dietary supplement. Green leafy vegetables, cabbages, legumes, tomatoes, oranges and whole-grain products contain particularly high levels of folic acid.
  • Pregnant women from the second trimester:A daily intake of folic acid, also 550μg, is recommended.
  • Breastfeeding women: The recommended daily intake of folic acid for nursing mothers is 450μg.

Further information on the preventive function of folic acid can be found on the website of the ‘Arbeitskreis Folsäure’ and the following links, which are all sources for this article: