Paper Title
Synthetic Folic Acid Supplementation During Pregnancy Increases the Risk of Neonatal Jaundice in Newborns
Abstract
Folate is easily and naturally absorbed and utilized by the body when it is metabolized in the small intestines. On
the other hand, folic acid, which was first introduced around the 1940s and added to the prenatal supplements of pregnant
women, requires the presence of a specific enzyme named dihydrofolate reductase, which is relatively rare in the body
especially during pregnancy.The reason why synthetic form of folic acid supplementation by pregnant women should be
replaced by natural folate, is that High folic acid intake by pregnant women will mask or may cause the vitamin b12
deficiency, which is one of the leading cause of increasing serum bilirubin in the blood of neonates.
Keywords - Neonatal Jaundice, Folic acid, Pregnancy, Vitamin B12