Thousands of poor women in Utah receive free folic acid to prevent birth defects

From UPI:

SALT LAKE CITY -- Thousands of poor women in Utah are receiving free vitamins with folic acid to prevent birth defects such as spina bifida, health officials said.

Folic acid aids development of a fetal neural tube in the brain and spinal cord. The B vitamin must be taken during the first weeks of pregnancy when the neural tube is developing.

A rise in babies born in Utah with spina bifida, and other brain-related defects, suggests some women have come of age without knowing the importance of folic acid, said Amy Nance of the Utah Birth Defect Network.

A federal grant and the charity group Vitamin Angels have paid for 26,000 bottles of vitamins with folic acid to be given to Utah women in the federal Women, Infants and Children program, known as WIC, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Wednesday.

WIC provides food vouchers and nutritional counseling to low-income women.