The Nutrition Post » Pregnancy

Mother’s Gluten Sensitivity Linked With Child’s Schizophrenia Risk: Study

hollyjsmall — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:49:57 +0000

There may be a link between a woman's gluten sensitivity and the risk of her baby developing psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia later on, according to a new study.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute and Johns Hopkins Children’s Center conducted research that suggests children of women with high levels of antibodies to gluten — meaning they had sensitivity to it — have almost a doubled risk of later developing a psychiatric disorder.

"Our research not only underscores the importance of maternal nutrition during pregnancy and its lifelong effects on the offspring, but also suggests one potential cheap and easy way to reduce risk if we were to find further proof that gluten sensitivity exacerbates or drives up schizophrenia risk," study researcher Dr. Hakan Karlsson, M.D., Ph.D., a neuroscientist at Karolinska Institute, said in a statement.

The study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, included analysis of 764 neonatal blood samples and birth records of people born between 1975 and 1985 in Sweden. Of those people, 211 went on to develop schizophrenia or a similar psychiatric disorder.

Pregnancy Time-Lapse Video “Introducing Amelie Amaya”

hollyjsmall — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:55:50 +0000

Our little 9 month project.

Breast-feeding Your Child Beyond Infancy

mariahmckenna — Sat, 12 May 2012 21:25:33 +0000

CNN's Suzanne Malveaux talks with Mayim Bialik about breast-feeding, attached parenting, and motherhood.

Dr. Sears Responds To Time’s Cover Story

mariahmckenna — Sat, 12 May 2012 03:51:41 +0000

Dr. Sears responds to Time cover story, says attachment parenting is not extreme.

Too Old To Be A Mom?

Lee Woodruff — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:49:07 +0000

Just this morning, I did the thing experienced mothers aren't supposed to do. I lost it on my daughter. She's 11 and I'm 52. That makes me the adult. In fact, last year I was the oldest living mother in elementary school. I should be a total ball of zen-nicity. Yet suddenly I was going all Linda Blair after a morning of protracted nagging.

Perhaps this rings a bell? "Hurry up — get dressed — brush your teeth, your hair, your tongue — shoes on — backpacks packed…move faster. Go!" You've been there. No expanded vocabulary required, just sixth-grade level word retrieval. And yet opening a can of whoop ass can feel satisfying sometimes. Like binge eating foods dipped in Marshmallow Fluff.

Wasn't it supposed to be a blissful experience entering motherhood again at 40? Wasn't I supposed to have more patience and understanding about "the long haul" and "how fast it all goes" with my twins? And yet here I am, shrieking as my hormones retreat, as snappish and churlish as one of those cringe-worthy, reality-show teen moms prevented from a night of clubbing by their colicky unwanted off-spring.

OK, maybe it's not quite like that with me. That was a tad dramatic. But as I swam my laps this morning trying to re-balance, I wondered idly if I really was too old to have kids this young? Was biology nature's way of saying, "you won't have the energy for this in a few years?" And yet how many of us are successful at making life fall in line with the perfect time to marry, procreate or change careers? Is there ever a perfect time?

Anxiety And Kids: When To Worry About An Anxious Child

mariahmckenna — Wed, 09 May 2012 23:41:02 +0000

This story is part of Speak Up for Kids, an annual public education program held during National Children's Mental Health Awareness Week (May 6-12, 2012)

Kids worry. Whether it’s fear of the dark, starting at a new school, or getting another pimple, children can take life very seriously. But some kids worry more than others. It’s always painful to watch a child suffer from anxiety, but it’s especially difficult if you’re not sure whether she’s worrying too much and might need help.

The difference between normal worry and anxiety disorders is the severity and duration of the anxiety. While feeling anxious is a natural and even healthy reaction to stressful situations, anxiety becomes a disorder when it interferes with a child’s ability to handle everyday situations, or prompts her to avoid things that most people her age enjoy.

What to Expect When You’re Not Expecting the Unexpected

mariahmckenna — Wed, 09 May 2012 05:48:09 +0000

Life is full of expectations — especially when we become parents. But instead of What to Expect When You're Expecting, after nine years of parenting twins I am convinced that a better parenting manual title is a quote from the trailer of the about-to-be-released movie of the same name: No Such Thing As Ready!

To illustrate this point:

In a period of eight days, my nine-year-old son received a diagnosis of Tourette Syndrome and his twin sister broke her leg.

Global Motherhood: The 30 Best Places In The World To Be A Mom

mariahmckenna — Tue, 08 May 2012 17:05:04 +0000

No matter where you are in the world, the joy of motherhood is a universal emotion. However, the conditions in which women raise their children vary from country to country. As part of the 2012 State of the World’s Mothers report, Save the Children has released their 13th annual Mothers’ Index.

Of the 165 countries surveyed, Norway, Iceland and Sweden top the rankings this year. The top 10 countries, in general, attain very high scores for mother and child health, educational attainment and economic status. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Niger ranks last. The 10 bottom-ranked countries — eight from sub-Saharan Africa -– are a reverse image of the top 10, performing poorly on all indicators. The United States places 25th this year –- up six spots from last year.

Choline Consumption During Pregnancy May Lower Babies’ Risk Of Diabetes: Study

Albert Tovmasyan — Tue, 08 May 2012 04:53:07 +0000

Consuming the nutrient choline — found in broccoli, eggs and milk — during pregnancy could help to reduce the risk of the child later developing diabetes or high blood pressure, a new study suggests.

Researchers from Cornell University found in the 12-week study that consumption of 930 milligrams of choline a day by women in their third trimester of pregnancy is linked with a 33 percent decreased concentration of cortisol — the stress hormone — in their babies. This is compared with a control group of pregnant women who consumed 430 milligrams of choline a day.

Second Trimester May Be Key For Regulating Weight Gain During Pregnancy

Amanda Holst — Mon, 07 May 2012 01:54:59 +0000

The second trimester of pregnancy may be a crucial period of time for women to stick to weight-gain recommendations, a new study says.
Overweight or obese women who gained an excessive amount of weight during the second trimester had a greater than 90 percent chance of gaining too much weight by the end of pregnancy, the study found.
On the other hand, normal-weight women who stayed within the recommend guidelines for weight gain during the second trimester had a 77 percent chance of staying on track to gain the appropriate amount of weight at the end of pregnancy.
The findings suggest that interventions to keep pregnant women on track to meet the recommended weight-gain guidelines could be started as early as the second trimester.
“If you tell somebody, ‘you should have put on less weight [in pregnancy],’ it doesn’t help the person very much,” said study researcher Rüdiger von Kries, of the Institute of Social Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at the Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich in Germany. The new finding identifies the problem (too little or too much weight gain) at a time when a woman can still do something about it, von Kries said.
The amount of weight a woman should gain in pregnancy depends on her starting weight. The Institute of Medicine recommends normal-weight women gain 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy, underweight women gain 28 to 40 pounds, overweight woman gain 15 to 25 pounds, and obese woman gain 11 to 20 pounds.

Why Pregnant Women Need To Get Enough Of This Nutrient

admin — Sat, 05 May 2012 07:50:01 +0000

The choline intake linked with the decreased cortisol is more than twice as much as is currently recommended, which is 450 milligrams a day, researchers reported.

"The study findings raise the exciting possibility that a higher maternal choline intake may counter some of the adverse effects of prenatal stress on behavioral, neuroendocrine and metabolic development in the offspring," study researcher Marie Caudill, associate professor of nutritional sciences, said in a statement.

"A dampening of the baby's response to stress as a result of mom consuming extra choline during pregnancy would be expected to reduce the risk of stress-related diseases such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes throughout the life of the child," Caudill added in the statement.

The researches said that choline may work at decreasing cortisol by altering gene pattern expressions that are responsible for the making of cortisol.

"This study provides compelling evidence that maternal choline intake during the third trimester of human pregnancy can modify global and site-speci?c epigenetic marks in fetal-derived tissues," the researchers wrote in the study.

GWYNETH PALTROW: DEPRESSION MADE ME FEEL LIKE A ZOMBI

mariahmckenna — Wed, 02 May 2012 04:13:28 +0000

Gwyneth Paltrow says she became so depressed after the birth of her son in 2006 that she "felt like a zombie" and at first didn't understand what was happening to her.

The actress tells Lifetime's "The Conversation with Amanda de Cadenet" that she began experiencing the symptoms following the birth of her son Moses, even though she did not experience depression with the arrival of her daughter Apple in 2004.

"I couldn't connect with my son the way that I had with my daughter and I couldn't understand why," she said. "I couldn't connect to anyone. I felt like a zombie. I felt very detached."

US Women In Labor Longer Than They Were 50 Years Ago

admin — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 07:59:01 +0000

American women today are spending about two hours more in labor during childbirth than women did 50 years ago, a new report says.

The report's authors said several factors helped to explain the longer labors.

"Older maternal age and increased BMI (body-mass index, a ratio of weight to height) accounted for a part of the increase. We believe that some aspects of delivery-room practice are also responsible for this increase," lead author Dr. Katherine Laughon, an epidemiologist with the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said during a Friday afternoon news conference.

For the study, Laughon's team collected data on nearly 40,000 women who gave birth between 1959 and 1966, and compared those findings with nearly 100,000 women who delivered between 2002 and 2008.

The researchers found women in the 21st century were in labor 2.6 hours longer for first births and two hours longer for subsequent births than women from the 1960s.

Mothers in the 2000s also were older, heavier and used painkillers more during labor, and were more likely to have a Cesarean delivery than women in the 1960s.

Consuming Salmon Twice A Week Is Healthy For Pregnant Women And Their Babies

admin — Sun, 25 Mar 2012 15:49:01 +0000

University of Granada researchers have proven that eating two servings of salmon reared at a fish farm (enriched with omega-3 fatty acids and only slightly contaminated) a week during pregnancy is beneficial both for the mother and child.

This research study – conducted within the framework of a Project funded by the VI EU Framework Program called The Salmon in Pregnancy Study (SiPS) – reveals that the intake of salmon increases omega-3 fatty acid levels both in the mother and child and improves their antioxidant defenses; the cause is the selenium and retinol content of salmon. In addition, salmon does not alter oxidative stress levels, inflammatory response and vascular homeostasis.

To carry out this study, a randomized sample of pregnant women with low fish intake was selected. The sample was divided into two groups: the control group – which continued with their regular diet – and the Salmon group – which incorporated two servings of "treated" salmon from 20 weeks of gestation until term.

Breathing Smog in Pregnancy Linked to Child’s Behavior Problems

unoknam — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 18:32:13 +0000

Women exposed to higher levels of certain air pollutants while pregnant are more likely to have children with anxiety, depression and attention problems by ages 6 and 7, new research suggests.

"This study provides new evidence that prenatal exposure to air pollution at levels encountered in New York City can adversely affect child behavior," said Frederica Perera, a professor of environmental health sciences and director of the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

She led the new study, published online March 22 in Environmental Health Perspectives.

The researchers looked at pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). They are created by the burning of fossil fuels and are common in urban environments. Traffic emissions are a major source of these pollutants.

The study is believed to be the first to link behavior problems in school-age children with two measures of prenatal PAH exposure: air concentrations and a PAH-specific marker found in mothers' blood samples and umbilical cord blood. The PAH, inhaled by the mom during pregnancy, can cross the placenta, experts know.

Perera's team followed the children of 253 inner-city women who gave birth between 1999 and 2006. None of the mothers smoked.

Pregnancy Workout, Exercises & Nutrition

unoknam — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 01:29:58 +0000

Pregnancy Workout, Pregnancy Exercise and Pregnancy Nutrition tips given by Fitness & Health Expert Michelle Marie on CBS Channel 4 News on how to stay healthy and fit during pregnancy and not gain excess weight.

Exclusive Breast-Feeding May Just Be Too Hard, Study Says

admin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:40:01 +0000

Exclusively breast-feeding for at least the first six months of a baby's life, as recommended by the World Health Organization and many governments, might be more of an idealistic goal than a realistic one, according to a small Scottish study out Wednesday.

As evidence of breast-feeding’s health benefits continues to grow, the rate of 6-month-old babies who’ve been exclusively breast-fed — no other fluids or solids, not even water — has increased in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The 2011 rate was 14.8 percent, up 4 percentage points from the 2007 rate, the year the CDC issued its first breast-feeding “report card.” That’s still well below the 25.5 percent target in the government’s “Healthy People 2020” report.
Reaching that target may be more difficult than expected, however, because of both the expectations and reality surrounding nursing, according to the CDC’s 2011 report card – and the research published in the journal BMJ Open.

Future Mommies, Cut The Fat

admin — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 00:14:02 +0000

Pregnant women…watch your diet. What you eat can affect both you and your newborn. Gestational diabetes is a common pregnancy complication that can affect both you and your baby. Data from 13,000 women participating in the Nurses’ Health Study II show high fat intake can put you at risk. Dr. Katherine Bowers is a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health.

Fatty Diet Before Pregnancy Linked to Gestational Diabetes

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:49:01 +0000

A pre-pregnancy diet high in animal fat increases the risk that moms-to-be will develop gestational diabetes, a new study says.
"Our findings indicate that women who reduce the proportion of animal fat and cholesterol in their diets before pregnancy may lower their risk for gestational diabetes during pregnancy," senior author Dr. Cuilin Zhang, of the epidemiology branch at the U.S. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, said in an NIH news release.
Researchers analyzed data from more than 13,000 women in the U.S. Nurses' Health Study II. The women were ages 22 to 45 when they enrolled in the study and provided information every few years about their health and lifestyle habits, such as the kinds of foods they ate.
About 6 percent said they had been diagnosed with gestational diabetes, a form of diabetes that occurs during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes increases the risk for certain pregnancy complications and health problems in newborns.
Women who consumed the most animal fat were nearly twice as likely to develop gestational diabetes as those who consumed the lowest amounts. Also, women who consumed the highest amounts of dietary cholesterol were 45 percent more likely to develop gestational diabetes than those who consumed the lowest amounts.

Fish-Rich Diet During Pregnancy Good For Baby

admin — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:16:01 +0000

Infants born to mothers who consumed a considerable amount of fish during pregnancy score higher in verbal intelligence and fine motor skill tests, and present an increased prosocial behavior, a new study has found.
This study was conducted within the framework of the Nutrimenthe project and coordinated by the University of Granada professor Cristina Campoy Folgoso.??Fish oil is the primary source of long-chain Omega-3 fatty acids as docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the main component of brain cell membranes.??The European Commission has confirmed and supports the healthy effects of DHA as "it contributes to the normal development of the brain and eye of the fetus and breastfed infants".??The Nutrimenthe project is focused on the effects that genetic variants and maternal fish intake have on the offspring's intellectual capacity. The researchers mainly focused on polymorphisms in the fatty acid desaturase (FADS) gene cluster that encodes the delta-5 and delta-6 desaturase enzymes involved in the synthesis of long-chain fatty acids of the series omega-3 and omega-6.??The researchers collected blood samples from 2 000 women at 20 gestational weeks and from the umbilical cord of the infant at birth, and analyzed concentrations of long-chain fatty acids of the series omega-3 and omega-6.

Pregnant? Eat Fish!

Dr. Andrew Weil — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 14:31:03 +0000

For the last several years, many pregnant women have been seriously limiting — or scrupulously avoiding — fish in their diets. This is largely due to a 2004 advisory from the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency recommending that pregnant women limit fish consumption to 12 ounces — roughly two average meals — per week, and that they eat varieties of fish and shellfish that are low in mercury (here's the whole advisory).

Unfortunately, the nuances of this recommendation were lost as it filtered into popular knowledge. What many women heard were the terms "mercury" "risk" and "harm" and on this basis ate much less fish than the advisory permitted – or none at all. A 2007 study showed that awareness of this warning drove 56 percent of pregnant women to needlessly reduce their fish consumption.

The problem with eating less fish during pregnancy is that it potentially deprives the developing fetus of vital nutrients. The omega-3 fatty acids, which are present in nearly all fish and particularly abundant in cold water varieties such as wild salmon, sardines, herring and black cod, are essential for healthy development of a baby's brain and nervous system. No other common food source delivers these nutrients in such quantity.

The crucial point: Research now suggests that the benefit to a baby's neurological health from omega-3s appears to far outweigh the potential for harm from small amounts of mercury in fish tissues.

Make Sure You Eat Right When You Are Expecting A Baby

DNS — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:46:01 +0000

Here are some simple tips to help you eat healthfully while you're expecting, from the nutrition experts at EatingWell.

Power couple: Iron plus C

During pregnancy, women's iron needs nearly double. Get more iron out of plant sources, such as green beans, artichokes and kidney beans, by consuming them with vitamin C-rich foods, such as citrus fruits, broccoli, strawberries or bell peppers. Why? Iron from plant sources is not absorbed as efficiently as iron from meat, fish and poultry–but vitamin C helps your body absorb this mineral. One easy combo to try: iron-fortified cereal topped with strawberries.

Be Aware of Iron Blockers

Some foods–including tea, egg yolks, milk and soy–contain compounds that limit absorption of iron. To maximize your iron absorption, try to avoid eating these foods at the same time as iron-rich sources like meat, poultry and fish. Pregnant women especially need to take note, as iron needs increase substantially (from 18 mg to 27 mg per day) when you've got a baby on board.

Pregnancy As Disability Professor Wants Coverage Under American With Disabilities Act

scooterboy_666 — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:29:54 +0000

Jeannette Cox, a law professor at the University of Dayton (Ohio), is suggesting that pregnant women experience symptoms that may warrant special accommodations from their employers and that pregnancy should be covered by the American Disabilities Act (ADA).

Cox, an employment discrimination expert, has conducted research on a variety of cases where pregnant women have lost their jobs because employers weren't willing to tweak rules in order to accommodate them, according to a University of Dayton press release.

While all workplaces may not have trouble accommodating pregnant employees, Cox argues that, overall, "pregnant workers currently have less legal standing" than people with comparable limitations. This, Cox says, may become an issue for women who work physically demanding jobs.

Mother and Ohio resident Ashley Vukovic says she thinks the additional protection might give mothers-to-be peace of mind when announcing their pregnancies to their employers.

Is Twin Communication a Real Thing?

Amanda Holst — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:07:45 +0000

When twins Danielle and Nicole Fisher gave birth to baby boys within minutes of one another, people wondered whether it was the result of some sort of special twin telepathy. After all, what are the chances that two young women would get pregnant within weeks of one another and then deliver 13 minutes apart?
The duo insists they didn’t consciously plan to get pregnant together. Twenty-three year old Nicole Fisher put it down to the “twin thing.” “It just has something to do with that twin communication,” she told her hometown New Jersey newspaper, The Courier-Post.
But twin experts aren’t ready to explain this away with ESP.
“I’ve heard of these things happening before,” said Nancy Segal, a professor of psychology at California State University at Fullerton and author of “Entwined Lives: Twins and What They Tell Us About Human Behavior.” “It’s fascinating. But I don’t think there’s any kind of ESP going on.”
Segal thinks the more likely explanation is shared genetics. While genes aren’t destiny, she said, they tend to greatly influence our lives.
“Twins’ lives tend to be in synch, particularly identical twins,” Segal said. “And you could see how genetics might come into play when it comes to the ease of conception, for example.”
Segal has interviewed hundreds of twins and for the most part she hasn’t come across many instances of any special sort of twin communication.
“They can have very close connections,” Segal said. “They can spend a lot of time together because they get along so well.”
It’s not just the power of genes that makes twins feel so close, said Ricardo Ainslie, a professor in the department of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin and author of “The Psychology of Twinship."

Pregnancy Exercises – Yoga

DNS — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 01:01:49 +0000

Prenatal Fitness. Yoga poses that can safely be performed throughout your entire pregnancy.

Preemies More Vocal When Parents are Near

Amanda Holst — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 23:37:08 +0000

Even tiny preemies hospitalized after birth can make baby sounds — especially when their parents are talking to them, a small study suggests.

Very premature babies are known to be slower-than-average in picking up language skills. That can be due to various reasons, including health problems they may have as newborns.

It's not known whether the sounds preemies hear soon after birth, and their own ability to vocalize, are related to their later language development. But premature infants who spend their early days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) are in a much different sound environment than they would be if still in the womb, said Dr. Melinda Caskey, a pediatrician at Women and Infants Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, and the lead researcher on the new study.

In the womb, mom's voice is the most prominent sound, Caskey said. In the NICU, the beeps and whirs of medical equipment abound.

Until now, though, no studies had looked at how much language NICU preemies hear during their day.

Caskey's team found that in their hospital NICU, it was surprisingly little — with monitor sounds, general noise and silence being much more common.

"It's very striking," Caskey told Reuters Health, "especially when you compare that with what the fetus hears."

Pregnancy Health

DNS — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 22:30:59 +0000

Begin boosting baby's brain power by getting enough of key nutrients during pregnancy.

More Trans Fat During Pregnancy Tied To Bigger Baby

DNS — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 04:01:05 +0000

Pregnant women who down trans fats from snack foods, fast food and other less-than-ideal fare may give birth to bigger babies, a new study suggests.

The study, of nearly 1,400 pregnant women, found that the higher a woman's intake of trans fats during the second trimester, the larger her newborn.

Exactly what the findings mean is uncertain. For one, they don't prove that trans fats, per se, boost fetal growth. And if they do, it's not clear how harmful that could be. Better growth in the womb could be a good thing, since it would lower the risk of low birthweight.On the other hand, there are risks to having a larger-than-normal newborn, said lead researcher Juliana Cohen, of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.

Big babies may have to be delivered by C-section. And, Cohen, said, studies have found that they may have increased risks of diabetes and heart disease later in life.

Even though the effects of trans fats on fetal growth are unclear, they are already thought to be a health risk, Cohen noted.

"It's prudent to limit trans fats in your diet anyway," she said in an interview. "Pregnant women may want to think about how (the fats) could affect fetal growth as well."

Exercise And Pregnancy: Is Running A Marathon Safe?

DNS — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 15:55:03 +0000

When news broke about 27-year-old Amber Miller in Chicago, who gave birth immediately after finishing a marathon, we were shocked and awed. Women everywhere wondered whether this was something to aspire to … or be horrified by.

Exercise and pregnancy is already a tricky subject. Everyone has different bodies and workout routines to begin with. How can one woman know what to do when you throw a baby bump into her mix? To find out, we called Raul Artal, M.D., professor and chairman of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Women’s Health at the St. Louis University School of Medicine.

The Marathon Question
Dr. Artal’s initial reaction to the marathon scenario summed up what we had assumed:

Can it be done? Sure. Is it advisable? No.

Any extreme physical activity is risky -– Artal pointed out there was a fatality at the Chicago marathon — so why take that risk while pregnant? While he has worked with professional athletes who exercised heavily throughout their pregnancies, Artal says, in general, women should stay away from extreme, high-impact fitness activities, like marathons … or skateboarding … or skydiving.

Taking folic acid in pregnancy could help prevent speech delays in children

DNS — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:17:12 +0000

Folic acid has long since been recommended in early pregnancy to help prevent birth defects such as spina bifida, but now, new research suggests the supplement could help reduce language development delays in children.

A study was undertaken in Norway, where food is not routinely fortified with folic acid, and focussed on the language kills of nearly 39,000 three-year-old children.

Nearly four years earlier, the researchers had surveyed the toddlers' mums, asking whether they took folic acid from 4 weeks before to 8 weeks after their baby's conception.

After taking into account other factors associated with speech delay, such as the mother's weight and level of education, the scientists found that of the 7,000 children whose mothers took folic acid supplements, 28 had a severe language delay, but only 73 cases were found among the 19,000 children whose mothers took folic acid combined with other supplements.