Why should women of childbearing age take folate? If you don't take enough or any folate, will you get sick?

they say women of child bearing age to take folate just in case you get pregnant. if you get pregnant and have low levels of folate, the baby can be born with a lot of abnormalities dealing with the brain and/or spinal cord. some research has shown even if you take folate while you're pregnant, if your folate levels were low before the pregnancy, your risk of the baby having these deformities (some of which the baby cannot live with) is still high. i've heard some docs say it's good for a childbearing age woman to take prenatal vitamins if they ever plan to get pregnant, even if it's not going to happen soon.

You probably won't get sick.

But if you get pregnant, and you're not consuming enough folate, your baby's chances of developing neural tube defects (such as spina bifida) are much higher. And, unfortunately, neural tube defects occur during a phase of embryonic development BEFORE a woman usually realizes she's pregnant.

That's why all women of childbearing age are strongly encouraged to get the US RDA of folate every day.

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