Forgot to take folic acid

[Kater1984]

Morning ladies, hope you're all well today :) I realised this morning that I forgot to take my folic acid supplement last night. I have to take my thyroid medication on an empty stomach in the morning so I couldn't take it when I woke up and now I'm panicking.

My diet isn't very good because I'm suffering a bit with nausea so I'm really relying on the supplements (although I did have a bit of hummus and asparagus last night).

I don't think I've ever forgotten before, should I be worried? I'm freaking out that I've damaged the baby I'm 8+5 and I know that it's a really important time to be taking folic acid, so I'm kicking myself...

Missing one dose isn't going to harm your baby. Try not to panic. Just take it with your breakfast this morning and carry on as normal tonight.

Just take it now or as soon as you can. I would honestly be concerned about your anxiety levels and think you should be seeking help for that.

Hey lovely. I’m 8+5 today too and I occasionally forget to take mine, I do worry too but then I think there are so many women who find out they’re pregnant a lot later than 8+5 and go on to have healthy babies without having taken folic acid at this stage, that helps put my mind at rest! I’m not sure if it’s wise to double up the next day if you forget but I’ve never tried. I’m sure your little bean will be just fine so don’t worry x

One dose will be fine, I went through my whole first trimester with DS taking half the recommended dose because I didn’t read the supplement pack properly! He was still fine. Your folic acid levels won’t drop to nothing overnight, don’t worry!

Don’t worry about it, seriously.

Being deficient in folic acid increases the risk of problems. So you take the supplements to increase the amount of folic acid in your body generally. Your baby doesn’t ‘need’ every dose, and missing one will not affect the amount of folate in your body in any significant way.

Many people don’t even take folic acid, have a poor diet and never never have any problems!

I spent both my pregnancies throwing up pretty much constantly for the first 14 weeks so I doubt I absorbed all of the folic acid I took. I really wouldn't worry about 1 dose.

I really wouldn't worry about one dose. Just carry on taking as normal now. I spent most of first/second trimester with hg and throwing up absolutely everything I ate/drank! So I expect I took in very minimal amounts of folic acid. And baby came to no harm. In fact, most of the time I couldn't even take the pregnancy supplement, I took the Pre-pregnancy one that just had the folic acid and no other supplements as they were smaller and easier to swallow, and I still threw them up!

It'll be fine! What about all the women with morning sickness who probably vomit their supplements back up!? I didn't find out I was expecting DC3 until 12 weeks and hadn't taken anything.

You do seem a bit anxious - perhaps you should raise it with your midwife as being pregnant and having a small baby causes lots of uncertainty to stress about!

I hate it when people say ‘I did X and I’m fine’ because obviously an n=1 study is of no really evidence or benefit. However... I had hyperemesis, basically never took folic acid because everything made me gag and vomit and my diet was non-existent or awful (think plain waffles, plain pasta, occasional biscuit). I did a lot of research and basically whilst folic acid deficiency increases the likelihood of neural tube defects slightly, it is not the sole cause and missing one dose will have no effect whatsoever.

oh dont worry too much, ive missed quite a few days to be honest, but ive had 3 scans so far (17 weeks tomorrow) and baby is absolutely fine! if you want to catch up, why dont you take 2 lots in 1 day? 1 lot as soon as you wake up and the next lot just before bed :) ive done that a couple of times xx

Stop worrying! Stress is more harmful than missing a folic acid dose!

Just take when you Get home. I kept folic acid and aspirin everywhere in case I forgot usual for me!