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Article:
Folic Acid - It's Never Too Early by: News Canada (NC)-The Folic Acid Alliance of Ontario (FAAO) has launched its first-ever, province-wide campaign to promote the awareness of folic acid and its benefits in helping to prevent birth defects. Folic acid is a B vitamin that is essential for the healthy development of a baby's spine, brain and skull. If taken prior to conception, it can reduce the risk of having a baby with a neural tube defect (NTDs), by as much as 70 percent. To be effective, folic acid must be taken prior to conception because neural tube defects occur in the first four weeks of pregnancy - before most women even know they are pregnant. And, since many pregnancies are unplanned, it is important for all women who could become pregnant to take a daily multivitamin containing a minimum of 0.4 mg of folic acid and to eat foods high in folic acid. 'The information on folic acid and its benefits is not new,' says Anne Pastuszak, spokesperson for the Alliance and former Director of The Fetal Centre at the Hospital for Sick Children. 'In fact, the issue has been around for 12 years now.' So, why don't more women know about folic acid? A recent Ipsos-Reid survey conducted among Ontario women between the ages of 18 and 40 years old, on behalf of the FAAO, found that while 80 percent of women have heard of folic acid, only 38 percent of women understand that folic acid must be taken before conception to help reduce the risk of NTDs. In fact, 41 percent of women had not heard of neural tube defects and only 42 percent understand that folic acid may reduce the risk of having a baby born with NTDs like spina bifida. One in '1
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