Importance of folic acid

maynoschik · May 13, 2008 10:08AM

Hi, My names Laura and i'm relatively new to these forums and was wondering if there was anyone else that has had to suffer through a diagnosis that baby has anecephaly?

For those that like me before i found out have never heard of this its a NTD that affects the growth of the skull and brain which means that the baby has no chance of survival.

I was absolutely devastated as was my oh when we were dealt this devastating blow, it was in July of 07 and i was 13wks when told and 14wks when we made the deciscion.....THE most hardest deciscion to terminate our much wanted baby. I am now currently 15wks pregnant and thankfully due to increased folic acid intake everything is so far absolutely fine, i am however finding things really hard to deal with in the emotions department and am wearing out my oh.

I am hoping that my experience can help others understand the importance of folic acid intake when you start to plan for a baby and not just for when you get pregnant, i was however taking the standard dose and it still happened to me but i have an increased risk as we have spinabifida in the family so that may be why i was so unlucky, feel free to ask anything if you're interested/curious as i will honestly answer back, This wasn't my first pregnancy but number 4, i was at the stage where you take pregnancy for granted, i now know the reason for the first scan, i learnt the hard way sadly.

I wish everyone the best of health and thanks if you read this.xx

K-lou · May 13, 2008 9:47AM

Thank you sooooo much for sharing your story. I am so sorry you had to go through out and congrats on your new baby. I have been taking folic Acid as this will be my first month of trying and they are like bullets and I was getting fed up of taking them every day but now I an see the importance of doing this.

Thanks once again

k xxx

tamarabell · May 13, 2008 9:56AM

Hi Laura, although this has not happen to me personally my friend was actually pregnant at the same time (six weeks in front) and unfortunatly her baby was diagnosed with this and she had to end her pregnancy at 18 weeks as it was not picked up on her 12 week scan. Would like to say well done to you for speaking out about such an important issue especially as it must be very hard for you. Think all women should be made aware of the facts before even trying for a baby! I know my doctor actually saw me before we started trying to ensure that I had all the knowledge that I needed and was 100% healthy. I hope this pregnancy continues well for you. Tammi xxx

maynoschik · May 13, 2008 10:08AM

Thankyou very much for your reply Tammi, i too think that all ladies should be made aware but i dont think enough women actually go to their docs when they want to start trying for a baby they just go ahead and start, which personally i haven't a prob with but i think maybe it could be added to the biology lesson in school so it sticks in the girls mind before they contemplate having a baby.

I am so sorry for your friends loss and i hope she is coping well, it is a really hard time because i dont think many people understand what has actually happened, some people find it hard to talk to me about but i am pretty straight forward and if someone wants to know then i tell them.
Thankyou again and i wish you all the best.xx

Importance of folic acid

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