eat right now How to get all the critical nutrients you need for
a healthy baby Prior to and early in pregnancy, less than one
milligram of folic acid consumed each day could be all it takes
to prevent neural tube defects (NTD), a congenital abnormality
(see “What Are Neural Tube Defects?” page 80). Andrew Czeizel,
M.D., director of the Department of Human Genetics and
Teratology at the National Institute of Hygiene in Budapest,
Hungary, reports that folic acid supplements taken at least one
month before and for the first few months of pregnancy reduce
the risk for NTDs. Czeizel’s research and other studies on the
importance of folic acid have prompted the U.S. Public Health
Service to recommend that all women of child-bearing age capable
of becoming pregnant consume 400 micrograms and pregnant women,
800 micrograms of folic acid a day to reduce the risk of having
a baby with spina bifida or other NTDs. In fact, the link
between folic acid and birth defects is so strong that the Food
and Drug Administration r