Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

Before moving on to how much folic acid during pregnancy you need, for sure you know that all pregnant women are recommended to have this nutritive element as pregnancy supplement. Usually it is enough to have 400 micrograms per day. You could also take it in the form of supplements or foods enriched with folic acid.

Being pregnant and taking folic acid while being pregnant

Once you get pregnant, you should increase the dosage to 600 mcg. Nonetheless it is possible that your doctor will suggest you increase the dosage to 1000 mcg. Usually the vitamins that women take after they give birth contain the right amount of folic acid.

When talking about taking folic acid while being pregnant, women say that they only want the baby to be healthy. Nonetheless it is possible to put the little one in danger in the first month even though women don’t really know this. There are a lot of women who don’t understand these risks.

In case you don’t know how much folic acid during pregnancy and before pregnancy you should take, you could endanger the health of the baby. Naturally every woman wants the best for her child, and so with a little care, research and information you could reduce the risks greatly, ensuring that there will be nothing wrong with the baby.

It is good to know regarding taking folic acid while being pregnant that if you have enough of it, you could reduce the chances of complications and birth defects by 70%. Folic acid is a kind of vitamin B that has the job of helping with cellular development and also with regeneration.

When thinking about how much folic acid during pregnancy you should take, keep in mind to focus on the supplement during the first weeks of pregnancy, when the development of the baby is vital. This is the time when the brain of the little one develops and also the spinal cord.

Complications

In case you don’t take folic acid while being pregnant the chances of having a miscarriage increase and the baby could also be affected by neural tube disorder. Such disorders could have different kinds of effects on the baby when it is born such as anencephaly and spina bifida.

Ask your doctor how much folic acid during pregnancy you should take to avoid these complications. Spina bifida could result in the paralysis of the lower extremities of the baby. Also he or she could suffer from bladder and bowel control problems. On the other hand, anencephaly could be fatal.

This condition is also caused by not taking folic acid while being pregnant and it means that the brain and the skull aren’t well developed.

Health benefits

In case you are wondering how much folic acid during pregnancy to take you should know that it has some benefits for the adults as well, both male and female. Those people who are taking it have the right cellular function and division, the hemoglobin is properly forming and they have smaller chances of experiencing a stroke or heart attack.

At the same time, in case you are taking folic acid while being pregnant you have some level of protection against different kinds of cancers and you can reduce the risks of being affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

As you can see there is no reason for which you shouldn’t be taking folic acid. To make sure that you don’t take too much or too little of it, you should ask your doctor how much folic acid during pregnancy to take. Naturally the amount you need varies according to the stage of pregnancy you are in.

Iron is another essential mineral that is often overlooked during pregnancy. Pregnant women are at an
increased risk for iron deficiency because of a drastically increased blood-volume and the fact that the
baby will have its own specific iron needs. Consult with your doctor then choose an iron supplement that’s easy on digestion.