Folic Acid’s Pregnancy Benefits Reduced in Latinos, Study Finds

Women who take vitamins with folic acid have a lower risk of having babies with neural tube defects, according to a new California study, which also shows that Latino women may benefit less from folic acid. The findings are of some concern because Latinas have a 50% higher risk than whites or African Americans of having babies with the defects.

According to data from the California Birth Defects Monitoring Program, published in today’s edition of the journal Epidemiology, women who took a multivitamin early in pregnancy had a 35% lower chance of having babies with neural tube defects, such as spina bifida and anencephaly. But among Hispanic women, taking a multivitamin with folic acid lowered the risk only 5% to 25%.

“Unfortunately, at least half of California’s babies are born to mothers who benefited less from vitamin use,” said Dr. John Harris, chief of the California Birth Defects Monitoring Program. “We need to find answers for these mothers.”

Health officials, however, advise all women of childbearing age to continue to follow the U.S. Public Health Service’s current recommendation to take a multivitamin containing 0.4 milligrams of folic acid daily.