how long to take folic acid for?

[Lovelylace]

Do you continue to take it all the way through your pregnancy or? Just suddenly thought that it might not be forever?

You are supposed to take it for the first 12 weeks but i have taken a multivitamin with folio acid all the way through. I checked with my midwife and there's no harm in taking it after 12 weeks

Current advice is at least for the first 12 weeks, but no harm in taking it throughout.

It's up to 12 weeks to guard against neural tube defects like spina bifida but it's fine to take all the way through pregnancy.

Thanks yet again ladies...what would i do without you... far easier to ask on her than to try to get hold of my MW

What everyone else said so you can't really take to much.its water soluable

Folic acid has been linked to breast cancer (although risk is small and limited to people with specific genetic traits), but the link with child asthma when taken in 3rd trimester is reason I'll stop taking at 12 weeks. Both studies are somewhat inconclusive though, so I doubt there's any significant risk if you've taken all way through pregnancy (and what doesn't cause cancer...) But, I'll stop at 12 weeks in any case...

www.guardian.co.uk/science/2009/nov/04/asthma-folic-acid-pregnancy-research
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4078257.stm