Folic Acid

[mejon]

I'm about to come to the end of a pot of folic acid I've been taking. I'm 19 weeks on Saturday. Is there any benefit in keeping on taking them or should I not bother. There's folic acid in most prenatal vitamins I belive which are taken until birth so should I just carry on? (MW adivsed me to stop taking the vits a few weeks ago when my blood tests revealed that my iron stores are very high and I don't need any extra!)

[ILoveDonaldDraper]

If you are taking pre-natal vitamins every day that will have 400mcg of folic acid in it so you don't need a separate tablet too. You should be taking pre-natal vitamins for the whole pregnancy anyway I think to make sure you get everything you need.

[Starberries]

I'm sure there's actually something that says you should NOT take folic acid after 12 weeks??

[Starberries]

Having looked into it a bit more, there is no advantage of taking folic acid in addition to a pregnancy supplement after 12 weeks, and in some recent evidence may lead to increased risk of breast cancer (for mother) if taken late in pregnancy.

[mejon]

I'm not taking the prenatal vits as I don't require the extra iron due to very high iron stores already (as advised by MW) - I stopped taking them at around 11 weeks and started on the plain folic acid instead.

[NoTeaForMe]

As far as I know you don't benefit from taking folic acid after around 12 weeks as that is when the baby has done most of it's development. They have said that taking it after this time can cause childhood asthma, but the main reason to stop really is that there is no benefit! I haven't taken it since around 13 weeks, and never took any other vitamins. My iron levels are at a perfect level, so says the MW!, and I have had a very healthy easy pregnancy so far!!

Hope that helps?

[Starberries]

Ah right ok mejon, still no advantage of taking the folic acid though as far as I'm aware/have read up on.

[mejon]

Thanks - that's what I thought. I'll finish what I have but won't bother getting any more.

[japhrimel]

You don't especially need folic acid at that stage, but NHS advice is that you should at least supplement with vitamin D throughout pregnancy - normally the easiest way to do that is to keep taking the prenatal mix. Maybe get a plain vit D supplement instead of the folic acid and check its okay with your MW?

[ILoveDonaldDraper]

if you aren't taking a good quality pre-natal vitamin every day then you need to be very sure that you are getting a full range of vitamins from your diet alone, which is difficult to do. Its not just about the iron, there is DHA, selenium, vitamin D, vitamin B6, and loads of other things that you need to make sure you get every day for the healthy development of your baby.

[mejon]

Thank you for your concerns. I'm very sure that there are thousands of women who take no supplements at all during pregnancy and have no problems. I only started taking the prenatal ones as they were the 'pre-conception' Pregnacare ones but became pregnant far quicker than I expected and had 2 boxes to get through. When I had DD 4 years ago I only took folic acid and no mention was ever made of the need for extra vits. I'm more concerened about not adding extra iron to my already high stores but will mention the vit.D recommendation to my MW when I see her in 2 weeks time.

[japhrimel]

It's in the NHS pregnancy book if she queries it.

Yes, many women do fine without supplements, but I think anything that might improve energy levels and reduce the risk in any way of the baby developing problems in later life (low vitamin D is linked to MS and lots of other nasties) is worth it.

And lots of women, especially in poorer countries, suffer real health issues from poor nutrition during pregnancy and breastfeeding!

[BaggedandTagged]

Mejon- it's likely they would have told you if you needed to top up with Vit D as they test for it when they do the initial blood tests (when they did your iron count)and tell you if you need to.

If you have a pretty good diet, then you are right. There's no need to supplement.

I am very about your superb iron levels- I have been taking monster supplements all the way through and still struggling to get my levels up. Ah well. Only 3 wks to go!

[japhrimel]

It's recommended that everyone take a vit D supplement, especially if you're pregnant during winter. From April to September, 20-30 minutes of sun a day is enough, but what with our British weather and the risk of burning with super sensitive pregnant fair skin, I doubt I get that most days even in August!

Testing for vitamin D levels isn't standard afaik. I was diagnosed as being deficient by a consultant a couple of years ago and my GP didn't even know she could get a blood test for it done.

I figure that if taking a supplement might improve my baby's chances of not getting things like MS, then I might as well do it, even if the risks and changes are tiny odds.