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National Birth Defects Prevention Month and Folic Acid Awareness Week
January is National Birth Defects Prevention Month. Birth defects affect approximately one in 33 newborns and are
a leading cause of infant mortality in the United States
(1). The cost of lifetime care for infants born in a single year
with one or more of 17 severe birth defects was estimated at $6 billion in the most recent study
(1).
This year, National Birth Defects Prevention Month focuses on preventing infections during pregnancy.
Health-care professionals should encourage women who are pregnant or who might become pregnant to adopt behaviors that
can prevent infections that might cause birth defects. For example, women can reduce their risk for cytomegalovirus
infection by washing their hands often, especially after changing diapers, and by not
sharing food, drinks, or eating utensils with young children. Additional information about preventing infections during pregnancy is available at
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/pregnancy_gateway/infection.htm.
January 7--13 is National Folic Acid Awareness Week. Health-care professionals should encourage every woman
who might become pregnant to consume 400
µg of synthetic folic acid every day in a vitamin supplement or in
foods enriched with folic acid. Following this regimen before and during early pregnancy can prevent serious birth defects
of the spine and brain (2). Additional information about CDC's birth
defects prevention activities is available at
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd.
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Health and Human Services.References to non-CDC sites on the Internet are
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endorsement of these organizations or their programs by CDC or the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. CDC is not responsible for the content
of pages found at these sites. URL addresses listed in MMWR were current as of
the date of publication.
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