Folic Acid and Birth Outcomes in Pregnant Women with Pre-Eclampsia
Author Information
Author(s): Bánhidy Ferenc, Dakhlaoui Abdallah, Dudás István, Czeizel Andrew E.
Primary Institution: Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
Hypothesis
Does folic acid supplementation reduce the risk of preterm birth and low birth weight in newborns of pregnant women with pre-eclampsia?
Conclusion
Folic acid supplementation from early pregnancy moderately reduced the rate of preterm birth in pregnant women with early onset pre-eclampsia but did not significantly affect low birth weight.
Supporting Evidence
- Pregnant women with pre-eclampsia had a higher rate of preterm birth (10.2% vs 9.1%) and low birth weight (7.9% vs 5.6%).
- Folic acid supplementation reduced the rate of preterm birth in early onset pre-eclampsia to 6.8%.
- Only 57% of women with pre-eclampsia reported taking folic acid compared to 54.4% in the reference group.
Takeaway
Pregnant women with pre-eclampsia who took folic acid had fewer premature babies, but it didn't help with babies being born too small.
Methodology
The study evaluated birth outcomes in 1,017 pregnant women with pre-eclampsia and 37,134 without, comparing those who took folic acid.
Potential Biases
Potential bias due to reliance on retrospective maternal information regarding folic acid use.
Limitations
The study could not evaluate lifestyle factors and relied on maternal self-reported data, which may be unreliable.
Participant Demographics
The study included pregnant women with early and late onset pre-eclampsia, with a mean maternal age of 25.5 years.
Statistical Information
P-Value
0.03
Confidence Interval
0.41, 0.18–0.94
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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