Planning a Baby  Discussion Forum

Hi Archie and others,

V r plannin to have a baby and one of my friend told me that it is gud to take MultiVitamin Tablets Containing Folic Acid 2 months b4 pregnancy...
How far is it true and if gud then is it really necessary..and can i take the tablet without any prescription...and if yes then which brand or name shud i take....

Pls suggest...
Thanks in advance....
Anu Pratheeksha replied. Hi Anu,
I'm not in the U.S. You just have to check out the contents on the pack. If it contains 400mcg folic acid, it's sufficient for you. You also get folic acid from other foods, such as green leafy vegetables. It is only to compensate in case of any defficiency from your food that folic acid tabs are recommended pre-pregnancy. So, the tablet you have seems to be fine. You require only one a day, as the excess folic acid if taken is also flushed out of the body, so you are not gaining much by taking more than one. I don't remember hearing anywhere that your husband should also be taking folic acid, it does nothing related to aiding pregnancy with him taking it or not.

All the best and hope to hear some good news from you soon. Pratheeksha replied. Doctors prescribe folic acid tabs of for 3-6 months before pregnancy to make up for any possible defficiencies of these in your diet. The commonly available folic acid tabs like folvite are of 5mg, however any tablet with 400mcg is also fine.It is recommended you have folic acid before and during your early pregnancy to avoid spine defects in your baby which is a common occurence these days. You can also have this as part of a multivitamin tablet as long as the folic acid is present in it, or you can have both separately.
The tablet my doctor prescribed was Becadexamine, which is a multivitamin with folic acid. You can also have just folic acid tabs like folvite. Both of these are off-the counter medicines and don't require prescriptions.