Folic acid pregnancy - why and when to start taking folic acid?

It is one of the first questions your midwife will ask you when you are pregnant: “Are you already taking folic acid?”

Taking folic acid is a general advice given by GPs and midwives to women who want to become pregnant or are already pregnant. But why is folic acid so important during pregnancy?

Folic acid is a B vitamin, vitamin B11 to be exact. In America, France and Germany folic acid is also known as vitamin B9.

Folic acid is found in food in the form of folate. It occurs naturally in green vegetables such as spinach, Brussels sprouts and broccoli but also in eggs, meat and whole grain products.

Your body can only create a limited supply of folic acid and that is why you are dependent on your diet. When you are pregnant, your body needs a larger dose of folic acid. That is why the advice is: use folic acid before and during pregnancy!

A folic acid supplement ensures that the folate status in your body remains at the right level. A low folate status in a pregnant woman is a risk factor for the development of spina bifida in the developing baby.

You can also use a folic acid supplement in the form of folate. Folate naturally also maintains your folate status. And it contributes to the growth of your unborn child during your pregnancy. This is the reason that folic acid (or folate) is actively recommended by midwives.

But folic acid is not only an important nutrient during pregnancy. Folic acid has many more benefits. For example, it is good for memory, learning performance, concentration and contributes to the proper functioning of your healthy immune system.

Folic acid is the synthetic form of B11. If you use folic acid, it has to be converted into folate in the body before you can use it. That is a lot less efficient.

In almost all (cheap) supplements you will often find this synthetic form of folic acid. Simply because this is a much cheaper raw material but therefore also less efficient for your body.

Folate is the active or biologically available form of folic acid. And therefore the most usable form for your body.

Actually, we already gave it away a bit above. Folate is the most usable form for your body. It is the essential nutrient as it occurs in our body.

So pay attention! On the packages where only folic acid is mentioned, the synthetic form is used and this is not active folate. The directly available for the body active form of folic acid, folate, is stated on a label as: folate, folate, 5-methyl-tetrahydrofolate, L-methylfolate, 5-MTHF or Metfolin.

Folic acid, Vitamin B12 and B6 work closely together. Combine these vitamins in 1 capsule for the most optimal effect and also to ensure that a deficiency of 1 of these vitamins is not masked.

Also pay attention to the form you are going to take with both B12 and B6. Adenosyl- and methylcobalamin are natural variants of B12. Pyridoxal-5-phosphate is a natural variant of B6 and pyridoxine is a synthetic variant.

In our webshop you will find the best form of folic acid in the multivitamin Ultimate Multi Mama . Combined with B12 and B6 and 26 other vitamins and minerals. A high-quality multivitamin specially composed for the woman who wants to have children or she who is pregnant.

The advice is to take folic acid (the natural form, folate) 4 weeks before you get pregnant. This is because your body needs time to absorb it properly. That is why it is advised to start taking folic acid when you stop using contraception.

Now it is not so obvious that you can plan a pregnancy and it can easily be that a pregnancy takes longer. The advice is to continue taking folic acid during that period. And it can do no harm to use the right form of folic acid for a longer period.

Are you pregnant? Continue taking the folic acid supplement during the first three months of your pregnancy.

The midwife recommends a minimum dosage of 400 mcg folic acid per day. The MultiMama is a pregnancy multivitamin that is specially formulated for women who want to have children and during pregnancy. With 400 mcg folate. A separate folic acid supplement is then no longer necessary.

The advantage of this multivitamin supplement? It also contains all kinds of other vitamins and minerals that you can use to support your health during your pregnancy.

If you find out that you are pregnant and you have not taken folic acid, it is advisable to start taking it as soon as possible. Choose a form of folic acid that is easily absorbed, such as a high-quality multivitamin with the most usable form of folic acid: folate.

In addition to folic acid, your body also needs other vitamins and minerals during pregnancy. Therefore, be sure to take a look at our pregnancy vitamins .