When to stop taking folic acid?

[Kc1603]

I had my 12 week scan today, turns out I'm 13 weeks, I forgot to ask when to stop taking my pregnacare folic acid?

Is it a multivitamin you take?
You can keep taking it
If its just folic acid you can stop now

Long after baby is here.

If it's only folic acid then after 1st trimester so after 13 weeks

You can stop folic acid after 12 weeks, it’s no longer needed by this point as the spine is formed. Just switch to vitamin D only now, that’s the only one that my midwife has advised to take.

After 12 weeks it's fine to stop taking it, but as a PP said keep up with the vitamin D

Disclaimer, I'm 26 weeks and still taking folic acid but you don't need to!

Folic acid is in my normal multi vitamins that I'd been using for years before pregnancy. It helps your body make healthy red blood cells so pretty beneficial to pregnant women throughout.

Thank you everyone it's just folic acid so I shall stop now and switch to vitamin D x

Why switch? I’ve only seen folic acid with vit D combined or in multivitamins. You don’t have to stop taking it - is there a reason you feel you need to? If so though, it’s recommended to at least 12 weeks.

I was told at my booking appointment last week that the advice has recently been updated and they suggest you continue to take folic acid throughout your pregnancy as there have been studies suggesting it's linked to healthy brain development. I see that this advice hasn't been updated on the NHS website though. Call your midwife team if you have any questions.

I was given these at my booking app.
The midwife team want me to take folic acid throughout this whole pregnancy.

@Chelyanne

I was given these at my booking app. The midwife team want me to take folic acid throughout this whole pregnancy.

I was told the same and have been taking every day since. Currently 37 weeks x

I’m taking folic acid and vitamin d. Midwife advised to take all the way through so I’ll do that. X

I stopped at about 14 weeks and now nearing end of my pregnancy I’ve been prescribed it again for anaemia so in hindsight I wish i’d carried on taking!

I started taking a pregnancy multivitamin after 12 weeks (which includes vitamin D and folic acid).

DD is 4 (years) next week and I am still taking multivitamins (which includes folic acid). Stopped the pregnancy ones after she was born and the packet ran out. Parenting frazzles me (despite good diet etc etc) so I reckon I’ll take every help I can get.

I just took it all the way through all three of my pregnancies. No reason to stop, and many midwives do seem to recommend that.

Remember that the baby draws on and depletes a lot of your reserves, so no harm taking a specially formulated supplement to minimise problems.

I thought the same as you at first, that I could just stop taking it after 12 weeks, but my midwife still asks me if I'm still taking it when I see her at my appointments! I'm now 21 weeks.

I was advised to stop taking it at 13w when I was pregnant with my first. There are studies that link it with tongue tie in babies if taken all the way through. My midwife told me I only need to take vitamin D and said "pregnancy specific" multivitamins like pregnacare are a colossal waste of money and provided you eat a varied diet you don't need to spend your money on them.

Most people who eat a "varied diet" still don't get all the vitamins their body needs.

All this stupid "just expensive pee if you take a multivitamin" needs to stop so that less people end up with deficiencies.

@Chelyanne

Most people who eat a "varied diet" still don't get all the vitamins their body needs.

All this stupid "just expensive pee if you take a multivitamin" needs to stop so that less people end up with deficiencies.

It is up to a woman to make an informed choice of course but people also don't need to feel like they have to spend significant amounts of money on expensive vitamins in order to have a perfectly healthy baby. I think that's what my midwife was getting at.

Asda do a 60pk of pregnancy multivitamins for £3.50, doesn't have to cost the earth to get some multivitamins.

I get my normal multivitamins from a protein website in bulk so cheap enough. I always have and always will supplement because I know my diet is never perfect and who wants to be stressing over macros all the time.

@wimbler

I was advised to stop taking it at 13w when I was pregnant with my first. There are studies that link it with tongue tie in babies if taken all the way through. My midwife told me I only need to take vitamin D and said "pregnancy specific" multivitamins like pregnacare are a colossal waste of money and provided you eat a varied diet you don't need to spend your money on them.

This is not correct. There are no published studies linking folic acid to tongue tie:

www.tommys.org/pregnancy-information/blogs-and-stories/after-birth/tommys-midwives/what-tongue-tie

It doesn't have to be pregnacare. I used a generic version for pregnant women from my local pharmacy. Boots do them too, I seem to remember.

I stopped my extra folic acid at 12 weeks.
But i still take a pregnancy multivit that contains all the stuff incl. Folic acid.
I also take additional vit D and magnesium.
And recently iron for deficiency now at 31w.

I would continue with a multivitamin. Doesn't need to be expensive branded one.

33 weeks and I still take the vitamins the midwife has given me. Folic acid, vitamin D & vitamin C.