Folate is essential to the body to synthesize, repair and methylate DNA. During pregnancy there is an increased demand for folate to aid rapid cell division and growth which is vital for foetal, placental and maternal development (1), therefore folic acid (400ug/d) is recommended to all women from preconception to the end of the first trimester of pregnancy (2). The physical benefits of folic acid supplementation are well documented in the literature; the most notable is protection against first occurrence and reoccurrence of neural tube defects (3), which affects over 900 pregnancies per year in the UK (4). Supplementation has also been shown to reduce the risk of congenital heart defects (5), cleft palette (6). Premature delivery (7) and low infant birth weight (7).
In terms of neurocognitive development, deficiency in maternal folate levels has been shown to negatively impact on the child’s cognitive performance (8), whereas optimal levels positively impact on language and motor development at age four (9) and lower the risk of children Internalising and externalising problems (10;11).
At present UK policy recommendations clearly focus on the protective role of folate during the early stages of pregnancy however, the role of maternal folic acid supplementation during the later stages of pregnancy is less clear and it is unknown whether it confers any other long-term effects in the children.