GPs have been urged to continue to promote the importance of folic acid supplementation in pregnancy after it is added to non-wholemeal flour from the end of 2026.
The UK’s chief medical officers, chief midwifery officers and chief nursing officers have written to health professionals warning of the ‘risk’ that some women will stop taking the supplementation following the fortification of flour.
And they have stressed the importance of continued advice for those who are planning a pregnancy or who are newly pregnant.
In November, ministers announced new legislation that would see folic acid included in non-wholemeal flour in a bid to prevent cases of neural tube defects and improve the health of pregnant women.
It has been estimated that the move will reduce neural tube defects by 20%, saving the NHS £20m over 10 years and boosting the economy by more than £90m.
Current NHS recommendations that women who are trying for a baby take folic acid supplements for around three months before getting pregnant, and for at least 12 weeks after, will remain in place.
But with around half of all pregnancies in the UK unplanned, it is hoped the new regulations will help provide women with a higher baseline intake of folic acid.
The CMOs’ letter said: ‘Fortification of flour with folic acid is intended as a population measure to support, not replace, current supplementation advice for individuals.
‘There is a risk that some women will stop taking folic acid supplementation following fortification of flour, incorrectly assuming that it is no longer required.
‘To mitigate this we, the chief medical officers, chief nursing officers and chief midwifery officers for the United Kingdom, are writing to you as health professionals to ask that you continue to promote the importance of folic acid supplementation directly to women of child-bearing age through existing communication channels, including face-to-face interactions.’
The move to include folic acid in flour follows a public consultation in 2022 on the amount that should be added.
The Government has said the new measures ‘are a simple and effective intervention to improve health outcomes in babies, giving them the best start in life’. But experts said the measures were too ‘timid’ and did not go far enough to prevent more cases of anencephaly and spina bifida.
A version of this article was first published by Pulse’s sister title Nursing in Practice
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