Maternal Vitamin B12 Status and Risk of Neural Tube Defects in a Population With High Neural Tube Defect Prevalence and No Folic Acid Fortification

Abstract

Deficient or inadequate maternal vitamin B(12) status is associated with a significantly increased risk for neural tube defects. We suggest that women have vitamin B(12) levels of >300 ng/L (221 pmol/L) before becoming pregnant. Improving B(12) status beyond this level may afford a further reduction in risk, but this is uncertain.