Taking folic acid supplements for at least a year before conception is associated with reduction in the risk of premature birth, according to a study by Radek Bukowski (from the University of Texas Medical Branch, United States of America) and colleagues, published in this week's PLoS Medicine.
Although most pregnancies last about 40 weeks, many babies (for example around 12% in the United States) are born before 37 completed weeks of pregnancy. Babies born prematurely are less likely to survive than full-term babies and are more likely to have breathing difficulties and learning or developmental disabilities. Currently, there are no effective methods of prevention or treatment of premature (preterm) birth, but previous studies have suggested that lower concentrations of folate (folic acid) are associated with shorter duration of pregnancy. Bukowski and colleagues therefore tested this idea, by analyzing data collected from a cohort of nearly 35,000 pregnant women.
The results of this study showed that taking folate supplements for at least one year before conception was associated with a 70% reduction in spontaneous premature birth between 20 and 28 weeks (a reduction from 0.27% to 0.04%), and a 50% reduction between 28 and 32 weeks (reduction from 0.38% to 0.18%), as compared to the rate of preterm birth when mothers did not take additional folate supplementation. Folate supplementation for less than a year before conception was not linked to a reduction in the risk of premature birth in this study, and folate supplementation was not associated with any other complications of pregnancy.
In a related commentary also published in this week's PLoS Medicine, Nicholas Fisk from the University of Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues (who were not involved in the original study) say "Methodologically, the study has several strengths... It is based on a huge dataset, with prospective recording of dietary supplements and potential confounders, and gestational age determined accurately on first trimester ultrasound. Those born preterm because of intervention were appropriately censored." Nevertheless, Nicholas Fisk and colleagues also point out limitations to the study – for example, this was a secondary analysis of a Down syndrome screening study, so information on folic acid dose, formulation (with or without other supplements), and daily compliance is incomplete. The study design was observational, so the presence of other factors, such as healthier behaviors on the part of women who take folate supplements, may explain the findings. Further evidence as to whether folic acid prevents spontaneous preterm birth will require a randomized controlled trial.
Funding: The FASTER trial on which this study is based was supported by grant from National Institutes of Health and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (RO1 HD 38625).The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: Mary D'Alton (contributing author) has acted as a consultant for Artemis Health.
Citation: Bukowski R, Malone FD, Porter FT, Nyberg DA, Comstock CH, et al. (2009) Preconceptional Folate Supplementation and the Risk of Spontaneous
Preterm Birth: A Cohort Study. PLoS Med 6(5): e1000061. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000061
IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.1000061
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-06-05-bukowski.pdf
READ THE EDITORS' SUMMARY OF THE PAPER: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-06-05-bukowski-summary.pdf
CONTACT:
Radek Bukowski
University of Texas Medical Branch
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
301 University Blvd
Galveston, TX 77555
United States of America
409 7474923
rkbukows@utmb.edu
Related PLoS Medicine Perspective:
Citation: Callaway L, Colditz PB, Fisk NM (2009) Folic Acid Supplementation and Spontaneous Preterm Birth: Adding Grist to the Mill? PLoS Med 6(5): e1000077. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000077
IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.1000077
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-06-05-fisk.pdf
CONTACT:
Nicholas Fisk
University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research
Centre for Clinical Research
Herston
Brisbane, Queensland 4029
Australia
(61) 07 3346 5500
(61) 07 3346 5599 (fax)
n.fisk@uq.edu.au
Journal
PLoS Medicine