About 25% of Canadian women don’t know about taking folic acid before pregnancy

Despite the well-supported evidence that taking folic acid before pregnancy helps prevent open neural tube defects, about one in four Canadian women are unaware of its benefits, a new study shows. And the findings show those numbers are the same as they were 10 years ago.Previous studies show that despite public health initiatives supporting folic acid supplementation and fortified foods, many women of child-bearing age don’t have adequate folic acid levels to reduce the risk of neural tube defects. Researchers from Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto examined data from the Canadian Community Health Survey, conducted in 2017 and 2018 to measure how much Canadian women knew about folic acid. Of 5,352 Canadian women who participated in the survey, 22.1% said they were unaware of the benefits of taking folic acid, and 77.6% said they were aware. Women who were between the ages of 20 and 24 had the least knowledge about the importance of folic acid before pregnancy, with 48.2% reporting they were unaware. Low level of education, low household income, immigrant status and lack of a primary care provider were all associated with a higher likelihood of being unaware of benefits of taking folic acid pre-conception. The proportion of women unaware of the benefits are similar what they were 10 years ago. The Canadian Maternity Experiences Survey in 2006 to 2007 found that 77.6% of women were unaware that they needed to take folic acid supplements before becoming pregnant, and only 57.7% took folic acid before becoming pregnant.While many people learn about folic acid from primary care providers, this may change with fewer people having access to primary care.“People get info from their family doctors, or from a public campaign poster in a healthcare provider’s office. Those who only see a doctor after finding out that they are pregnant, or don’t have regular follow-up, have fewer chances to learn about folic acid,” said lead author Vrati Mehra, a fourth-year medical student at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. “We are currently experiencing a crisis of family doctors in the country. The shortage makes me worry about what may happen to awareness levels in the coming years,” she said in a Temerty Medicine press release.Mehra suggests other places to engage the public on folic acid, such as including the topic in health education in high school, or even when you get your provincial health insurance card.“I was once an immigrant,” says Mehra. “I remember accompanying my parents to the Service Ontario Centre to get our health cards. Including a simple line in multiple languages about folic acid, either in the paperwork or displayed on posters, could help. We also visited other public spaces like libraries and community centres, which are ideal for informative posters.”“A collective effort from the government, healthcare providers, the education system and the immigration system would make a big difference.”Other authors of the paper were Dr. Ellen Greenblatt, Dr. John Snelgrove and Dr. Claire Jones from the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine and Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto. Hala Tamim, a professor in the faculty of health at York University, was another author.The paper was published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Canada.Read: Preventing respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection in young children

About 25% of Canadian women don’t know about taking folic acid before pregnancy

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