If there is not enough folic acid, an unborn baby may develop a birth defect called spina bifida where the backbones do not close properly. When that happens, the result is like the injury that occurs when the spinal cord is damaged during a car wreck. Much surgery is required and many children born with the birth defect must spend their lives in a wheel chair. Anencephaly can also occur. This is a birth defect where much of the brain fails to develop.
Infants die shortly after birth.
These birth defects happen before the 28 th day of pregnancy often before a woman even knows she is expecting a baby. High homocysteine levels are associated with cardiovascular deaths like stroke and heart attack. Having an adequate level of the vitamin in the blood lowers homocysteine. Folate is the form of the vitamin found in food. It takes twice as much folate as the synthetic form folic acid to result in acceptable blood levels.