Didn't take folic acid. Anyone else?

[KirbyKane]

12 weeks pregnant. Took folic acid preconception but stopped taking it very early on after I conceived due to morning sickness. It was partially psychological I think as the idea of taking tablets was enough to make me wretch. I was vomiting up to 20 times a day and had 3.5 weeks off work. Even now, I couldn't even take the tiny tablet as it makes me sick. I tried to persevere but gave up in the end.

Has anyone else not taken folic acid for whatever reason and had a healthy baby at the end of it? The idea of worrying about spina bifida for another 8 weeks until my 20 week scan is a horrible thought...

No you mustn't worry. I had HG with my first, couldn't keep anything- not even water- down. Trying to swallow a folic acid tablet with it's weird flavour and smell was completely out of the question, I had taken it before I fell pregnant and when I raised my concerns with the midwife she told me to take it when the HG subsided (2nd trimester), which I did. I have the most beautiful and bright DD - I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful child. Trust your body, growing a baby is something that you have very little control over. Congratulations on your pregnancy :)

The vast majority of women who don't take folic acid still go on to have healthy babies. It's possible that the risk of the baby having a neural tube defect may have increased slightly, but overall it's still far, far more likely that the baby will be fine.

I also had terrible morning sickness in my first pregnancy and found it nearly impossible to take tablets most days. Try to put it behind you and not worry about it, it was out of your control.

I didn't take folic acid or any other vitamin for my second baby. And he is now here (13 days old) and perfectly healthy
I took it with my first and I'm sure that it aggravated my morning sickness! So it put me off this time.

Think of all the women that don't even realise they are pregnant till much later on in pregnancy, not only have they not taken folic acid but they have also continued to drink, smoke, eat "forbidden" foods etc etc.

Don't panic.

The risk depends on your diet and health beforehand. If you were overweight / obese when you conceived then you need to speak to your midwife / GP as it’s unlikely that your diet would have given you enough folic acid.

There are small Folic Acid / pregnancy tablets - seven seas do a mini pill version.

You've probably done a lot of good taking it beforehand any way.

One thing I would say to anyone in the same position though is if they are struggling to try a bottle of generic folic acid tablets (usually tiny little tablets and available in every supermarket if the shelf) rather than trying to force down the giant, stinky pregnancy multi vitamins that also include iron which don't help the nausea.

Remember that folic acid is added to lots of foods, so if you eat bread or breakfast cereal then those fortified foods will have helped with your levels. It also occurs naturally in dark green veg like kale, spinach and broccoli, as well as quite a few other foods.

@Buxbaum folic acid isn't in bread in the UK. There's a big campaign to get it added as a lot of people from socially deprived areas in particular don't/can't afford to buy folic acid supplements. It is in cereals, Marmite and green veg. And also weirdly in Erdinger alcohol-free beer...

Folic acid toxity can harm men, menopausal women, and kids. It’s not right to add it blindly to flour / bread as the only benefit is to pregnant women. Far better to just offer free folic acid supplements to pregnant women.

Apologies, I thought the change had already been made.

There are many women who don’t find out they’re pregnant until later in the pregnancy (or even until they’re in labour in some cases!) and I’m sure most of their babies are fine despite doing much worse things than not taking folic acid. I’m sure your baby will be fine.

Thanks everyone and sorry it's taken me so long to respond. Long day at work! It's funny how so much pressure is put on pregnant women to be perfect. It means that when you don't take medication because you're sick, or eat something you're not supposed to because you just didn't know, or worry about symptoms you didn't even know existed, it makes you feel like a bad person. Can't seem to stem this anxiety. I have a scan on Monday and am absolutely terrified they will find something bad. I know a lot can't be picked up until 20 weeks which is another long wait! My friend is a doctor and seems to think at 27 and a healthy weight I'm low low risk but I can't help but stress. Argh!

@DuchyDuke there are people including children with medical conditions who are actually deficient in folic acid or need more. It is also a water soluble vitamin so unless someone is taking huge amounts it isn't an issue.

@KirbyKane keep talking to your doctor friend. Unlike some of the midwives I've seen most of them realise that people aren't perfect and don't ask you to do silly things.

For example in my case due to have vitamin deficiency problems in the past including vitamin D, I take some separate vitamins. The midwife at my booking appointment told me to take a pregnancy vitamin instead which has a much lower dose of vitamin D and the vitamins I need. Both my GP and the consultant, I'm under consultant care, said I should continue taking what I normally take to avoid deficiency.