Moms-to-Be Who Take Iron, Folic Acid Have Smarter Babies

The following article will be featured on an upcoming episode of Dr. Asa on Call with Dr. Asa Andrew:

While most American women of childbearing age already know that taking folic acid supplements before and during pregnancy is essential in helping prevent neural tube defects, they probably don't know that folic acid, when combined with iron supplements, may make children smarter. At least that's what a new study on mothers and children in rural Nepal suggests.

The research, published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that when mothers in Nepal took iron and folic acid supplements before and during pregnancy, their children showed greater cognitive and motor skills when compared to children whose mothers did not receive prenatal supplements.

The study followed 676 children in a double-blind, randomized controlled trial of micronutrient supplementation given between 1999 and 2001. Researchers followed up with the children at ages 7 to 9. The children whose mothers had received prenatal supplements of folic acid and iron showed stronger cognitive ability, higher reasoning skills, better motor skills and enhanced inhibitory control when compared to their study group peers whose mothers had not taken supplements.

One of the study researchers, Laura Murray-Kolb, assistant professor at Penn State University and adjunct associate professor at Johns Hopkins University, told AOL Health that studies in rodents had already shown that iron deficiency during gestation can alter neurotransmitters in the brain, often impacting the speed of information processing. The study in Nepal suggests the same may be true in humans.

Even more than that, however, it points to the need for better prenatal care in developing nations. "We need effective, low-cost prental programs that can be implemented at the community level," Murray-Kolb says. "A lot of these women are not seeing physicians."

But the problem doesn't exist solely in developing nations. "We see this issue even in the U.S.," says Murray-Kolb. "Most women here are not entering pregnancy with the level of deficiency of women in Nepal, but previous studies have shown that as many as 30 percent of women in the U.S. are anemic by the end of pregnancy."

"Women are getting the message about prenatals," Murray-Kolb says, "but they tend to become more lax about it as pregnancy progresses." And that's not a good thing. While folic acid supplements are most important before and during the early months of pregnancy, iron supplementation is most critical at the end.

The World Health Organization estimates that in developing countries, some 50 percent of pregnant women are anemic. This latest study was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

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