When you?re pregnant, or thinking about becoming pregnant, you want to do everything you can to make sure your baby is healthy. Part of that includes ensuring you get enough folate, a vitamin that plays a vital role in the first month of pregnancy.
What is folic acid"
Folate is found in many foods we eat daily, like avocado, nuts, beets, cooked broccoli, spinach, wheat germ and legumes such as lentils, black beans and kidney beans. It is also called vitamin B9. Folic acid is the synthetic, or man-made, version of folate.  In pregnancy, folate is important for the development of the brain, spinal cord and skull, especially in the first four weeks after conception.
Too little folate in those first few weeks is linked to neural tube defects that occur as the fetus develops, conditions which can be life-limiting, or even fatal. The most common neural tube defect is spina bifida, where the spinal cord doesn?t fuse all the way, says Deepa Upadhyaya, a registered midwife and associate professor in the midwifery program at Mount Royal University in Calgary. The second most common is anencephaly, where parts of the brain and skull don?t develop.
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