Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2015 Jan 16;64(1):6-9.

Supplement use and other characteristics among pregnant women with a previous pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect - United States, 1997-2009

Annelise Arth, Sarah Tinker, Cynthia Moore, Mark Canfield, Aj Agopian, Jennita Reefhuis; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Multicenter Study

Supplement use and other characteristics among pregnant women with a previous pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect - United States, 1997-2009

Annelise Arth et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. .

Abstract

Neural tube defects (NTDs) include anomalies of the brain (anencephaly and encephalocele) and spine (spina bifida). Even with ongoing mandatory folic acid fortification of enriched cereal grain products, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that women of childbearing potential consume a daily supplement containing 400 µg-800 µg of folic acid. Women with a prior NTD-affected pregnancy have an increased risk for having another NTD-affected pregnancy, and if they are planning another pregnancy, the recommendation is that they consume high-dosage folic acid supplements (4.0 mg/day) beginning ≥4 weeks before conception and continuing through the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. To learn whether folic acid supplementation (from multivitamins or single- ingredient supplements) was commonly used during pregnancy by women with a previous NTD-affected pregnancy, supplement use was assessed among a convenience sample of women with a previous NTD-affected pregnancy who participated in the National Birth Defects Prevention Study (NBDPS), a case-control study of major birth defects in the United States. Characteristics of women who previously had an NTD-affected pregnancy and whose index pregnancy (pregnancy included in NBDPS) was either affected by an NTD (N = 17) (i.e., recurrence-cases) or resulted in a live-born infant without a major birth defect (N = 10) (i.e., recurrence-controls) were assessed. Taking a supplement that included folic acid was more common among recurrence-control mothers (80%) than recurrence-case mothers (35%). The recommendation that women should take folic acid supplements just before and during early pregnancy is not being followed by many women and offers an opportunity for NTD prevention, especially among women who are at a higher risk because they have had a previous pregnancy affected by an NTD.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. US Preventive Services Task Force. Folic acid for the prevention of neural tube defects: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statement. Ann Intern Med. 2009;150:626–31. - PubMed
    1. CDC. Effectiveness in disease and injury prevention use of folic acid for prevention of spina bifida and other neural tube defects—1983–1991. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 1991;40:513–6. - PubMed
    1. Grosse SD, Collins JS. Folic acid supplementation and neural tube defect recurrence prevention. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol. 2007;79:737–42. - PubMed
    1. Hendler SS, Rorvik DR. PDR for nutritional supplements, second edition. Montvale, NJ: Medical Economics Company, Inc; 2008.
    1. CDC. Folic acid awareness and use among women with a history of a neural tube defect pregnancy—Texas, 2000–2001. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2002;51(RR-13):16–9. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms