Folic Acid: The Vital Vitamin
     Women who might get pregnant should have 0.4 milligrams of folic acid daily. Pregnant women should have at least 0.4 milligrams each day during the first 3 months of pregnancy.
     Women who have had a child with a spine or skull defect are more likely to have another child with this problem. These women need higher doses of folic acid – 4 milligrams daily. It should be taken 1 month before pregnancy and during the first 3 months of pregnancy. These women should take folic acid alone, not as a part of a multivitamin preparation. To get enough folic acid from multivitamins, a woman would be getting an overdose of the other vitamins.
     This vitamin can be found in many food sources: