Women who are trying to get pregnant are ignoring expert advice to take folic acid supplements to protect their unborn children from spina bifida and other birth defects, a study from Queen Mary University uncovered.
Not enough women are taking folic acid in the run-up to getting pregnant, despite strong evidence it protects their unborn child from birth defects, experts have found.
Fewer than one in three of the 500,000 pregnant women quizzed by researchers from Queen Mary University admitted to taking folic acid prior to conception.
The water soluble B-vitamin protects most unborn children from developing spina bifida and other birth defects affecting the brain, spine or spinal cord.
The findings prompted calls for the introduction of mandatory folic acid fortification of flour in the UK - a policy already adopted in more than 70 countries including the US and Australia.
Professor Sir Nicholas Wald, from London's Queen Mary University explained: "It's a public health tragedy that in spite of the folic acid fortification initiative in many countries, the UK has not introduced mandatory folic acid fortification.
"The failure to fortify flour with folic acid is like having a polio vaccine and not using it."
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