Not all birth defects can be prevented.
In the United States
- Each year, about 1,500 babies are born with spina bifida.
- Hispanic women have the highest rate of having a child affected by spina bifida compared with Non-Hispanic White and Non-Hispanic Black women:
- Hispanic: 4.17 per 10,000
- Non-Hispanic Black or African-American: 2.64 per10,000
- Non-Hispanic White: 3.22 per 10,000
- In 1992, the U.S. Public Health Service recommended that all women of childbearing age consume 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid daily to reduce the risk of having a pregnancy affected by neural tube defects (NTDs), such as spina bifida.
- Subsequently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration mandated adding folic acid to all enriched cereal grain products by January 1998.
- The prevalence rate of spina bifida declined 31% from the prefortification (1995–1996) rate of 5.04 per 10,000 to the post-fortification (1998–2006) rate of 3.49 per 10,000.
- An estimated 1,000 more babies have been born without an NTD each year since fortification began.
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