Oral Concurrent Session 7 – Diabetes: Saturday, February 1, 2025 8:00 AM – 10:15 AM.

The nutritional status of women prior to and during pregnancy plays a key role in fetal growth and development. Folic acid supplementation in the periconceptional period, either alone or in combination with other vitamins and minerals, can prevent neural tube defects. World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that all women, from the moment they begin trying to conceive until 12 weeks of gestation, should take al folic acid supplement (400 mcg folic acid daily). A randomized double-blind prevention trial with a factorial design was conducted at 33 centers in seven countries to determine whether supplementation with folic acid around the time of conception can prevent neural tube defects (anencephaly, spina bifida, and encephalocele).