If you are pregnant, having a high enough amount of folate in your blood (blood folate concentration) is important to help to prevent a neural tube defect in your developing baby. Folate is another word for vitamin B9. Blood folate concentration is the amount of folate that can be measured in your blood.
For three decades, the US Public Health Service has recommended that all people capable of becoming pregnant consume 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid daily to prevent neural tube defects (NTDs). Folic acid is an important part of planning for a healthy pregnancy.
While the cause is not always known, congenital brain malformations may result from inherited genetic defects, spontaneous mutations within the embryo's genes, or damage to the fetus caused by the mother's exposure to toxins, infection, trauma or drug use.
CDC urges all women of reproductive age to get 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid every day, in addition to consuming food with folate from a varied diet, to help prevent neural tube defects (NTDs). NTDs occur when the neural tube does not close properly. The neural tube forms the early brain and spine.
Continued use of folic acid after the first month of pregnancy, and throughout your life, ensures the future good health of you and your family. Folic acid can reduce certain birth defects of the brain and spinal cord by more than 70 percent. These birth defects are called neural tube defects (NTDs).
The brain and spinal cord are covered and protected by 3 layers of tissue (membranes) called the meninges: dura mater – thickest outer membrane. arachnoid layer – middle, thin membrane. pia mater – inner, thin membrane.
Development of the fetal CNS
If it doesn't close, the result is a neural tube defect. In many cases, these defects can be diagnosed during pregnancy with ultrasound scans and, rarely, with other tests such as amniocentesis (analysing a sample of amniotic fluid).
Smoking, drinking alcohol, or taking certain drugs during pregnancy. Having certain medical conditions, such as being obese or having uncontrolled diabetes before and during pregnancy. Taking certain medications, such as isotretinoin (a drug used to treat severe acne). Having someone in your family with a birth defect.
Harmful exposures during the first trimester have the greatest chance of causing major birth defects. This is because many important developmental changes take place during this time. The major structures of the body form in the first trimester.
Avoid Alcohol and Smoking
Smoking during pregnancy can also damage a baby's developing brain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Smoking has also been linked to premature birth, which increases the risk of health problems such as cerebral palsy and developmental delays.
When the baby is developing early during pregnancy, folic acid helps form the neural tube. Folic acid is very important because it can help prevent some major birth defects of the baby's brain (anencephaly) and spine (spina bifida).
The heart of the baby starts to beat around the fifth week of pregnancy. To confirm the heartbeat of your baby, the doctor may conduct a non-stress test. The test monitors the heart rate of the baby and provides information about the potential threat, if any. A healthy heartbeat is between 110 to 160 per minute.
Current supplementation policies designed to prevent neural tube defects may incidentally prevent Down's syndrome, provided a sufficiently high dose of folic acid is used.
The most common birth defects are: heart defects. cleft lip/palate. Down syndrome.
Maternal stress has been associated with poor birth outcomes including preterm birth, infant mortality and low birthweight. Stress results in increases in cortisol, norepinephrine and inflammation which affect the fetal environment and have implications for maternal and infant health.
The most common severe congenital disorders are heart defects, neural tube defects and Down syndrome. Although congenital disorders may be the result of one or more genetic, infectious, nutritional or environmental factors, it is often difficult to identify the exact causes.
Neonatal cranial ultrasound is considered the gold-standard screening method for neonatal brain injury, for the detection of major or significant abnormalities of the brain, most notably severe IVH or cystic periventricular leukomalacia in the preterm infant.
In 386 out of 570 cases (67.7%) both ultrasound and iuMRI were correct at identifying brain abnormalities.
Ultrasound can be used to evaluate the fetal brain of infants from newborn to approximately six months of age, or until there is closure of the anterior fontanelle.