ABU DHABI // Pregnant women are failing to take a simple supplement that could prevent their child being born with a severe brain disorder, experts say.
Neural tube defects, of which spina bifida is the most common, are a group of serious birth defects that affect a baby’s spinal cord, brain and skull.
Many of its sufferers die in infancy or early adulthood.
By consuming supplements or food that are rich in folic acid in the early stages of pregnancy, women can reduce their child’s chances of having these conditions, said Dr Soha Said, a consultant obstetrician at Corniche Hospital.
“Women don’t know which foods are rich in folic acid and they don’t even take it as a supplement,” she said.
“We advise people to take folic acid before they conceive but they don’t.
“There are certain women who are at higher risk of having a child with spina bifida and they should have a higher dose of folic acid.
“Unfortunately, we don’t meet the women before they are pregnant as they only come to see us later,” said Dr Said.
In other countries, neural tube defects have been reduced significantly following education campaigns.
Women need to begin taking folic acid a month before they conceive and continue for the first three months of pregnancy, said Dr Said, with high-risk patients, such as those who are on anti-seizure medication or who are obese, needing to take folic acid throughout their pregnancy.
She also said foods such as fortified breakfast cereals, vegetables such as leafy greens, asparagus or broccoli and nuts and seeds were all rich sources of folic acid.
On Thursday, at the Sofitel Hotel in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) staged its first spina bifida awareness day to inform parents about prevention, early detection and treatment of the disorder.
Dr Zaid Al Aubadi, the chairman of the spina bifida multidisciplinary team at SKMC, said about 15 children born at the hospital each year had the disease.
The prevalence of spina bifida in the UAE stands at about 1.5 in 1,000 births, where as in the US it is about one per 1,000.
Dr Al Aubadi said there were about 3,000 people in the UAE living with the disease.
Medical advances in recent years have increased the lifespan of these sufferers, said Dr Al Aubadi. “Although spina bifida is a permanent condition and the cause is not fully known, the outlook for patients has improved significantly over the past 10 to 15 years,” he said.
“We have more advanced surgical techniques and improved methods of early diagnosis to reduce the severity of complications.”
Bashar Al Qadadha, a six-year-old Jordanian who was operated on for spina bifida at SKMC attended the event.
His father, Mousa, said he was unaware of the risks of the disease when his wife was pregnant.
“I didn’t even know what spina bifida was before it happened to my son,” he said.
“They discovered the problem when my wife was eight months pregnant.”
Mr Al Qadadha was told that the disease could have been prevented if his wife had taken folic acid.
“I believe all new parents should be educated about the condition,” he said.
After surgery, Bashar gained weight and became more talkative and active.
arizvi2@thenational.ae
