Folic acid is one of many vitamins that humans need to be healthy.
Folic acid is very important to reduce the chance of birth defects in babies.
Neural Tube Defects, or NTDs, are serious birth defects caused by a failure of tissues around the brain and spine of the fetus to develop properly. The most seriously affected babies are stillborn or do not survive long after birth. Health Canada estimates that there are at least 800 NTD pregnancies per year. Some of these fetuses are aborted, either spontaneously or by medical procedure. About 400 NTD births happen in Canada every year, which is an average of one NTD birth per 1,000 newborn babies.