
A Folate Deficiency During Pregnancy Raises Your Risk of Serious Birth Defects.
One of the biggest dangers of folate deficiency is the risk of neural tube defects during pregnancy. During the first month of pregnancy, the nervous system begins to develop from a structure called the neural tube. When this development goes wrong, the result is serious and potentially fatal birth defects called neural tube defects. The most common of these defects are spina bifida, which occurs when the spinal cord doesn’t form correctly, and anencephaly, which occurs when the brain and skull form abnormally. While spina bifida can usually be treated with surgery, anencephaly is almost always fatal within a few days of birth. Fortunately, there are many ways to make sure that you get enough folate before and during your pregnancy to prevent these devastating conditions.