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Modifying Levels of Maternal Dietary Folic Acid or Choline to Study the Impact of Deficiencies on Offspring Health Outcomes
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Published on: June 28, 2024

Folic acid use in planned pregnancy: an Italian survey

Marco De Santis1, Tomasella Quattrocchi, Ilenia Mappa

  • 1Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Telefono Rosso Teratology Information Service, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, L. go Francesco Vito 1, 00135 Rome, Italy.

Maternal and Child Health Journal
|June 15, 2012
PubMed

It is well known that periconceptional folic acid supplementation decreases the risk of neural tube defects. The aim of this study was to evaluate the attitudes and practices of women with planned pregnancies regarding periconceptional folic acid intake and to identify factors associated with the use of this supplement. During 2 years of observation, we surveyed women with planned pregnancies who called our Teratology Information Service. A total of 500 women were surveyed: 217 (43.4%) took folic acid before becoming pregnant, and 283 (56.6%) did not take it. The women who took folic acid before becoming pregnant had a high education level and received preconception counselling. Our results suggest that less than half of Italian women took folic acid before they became pregnant although they were trying to conceive. Knowledge about the benefits of this vitamin is inadequate also among women who planned the pregnancy and the level of information received from their physicians.

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