Women's opinions on the use of folic acid.

All women in The Netherlands who are planning a pregnancy were recently advised to take 0.5 mg of folic acid per day for 4 weeks prior to conception and during the first 8 weeks of pregnancy. In this study we sought to determine whether women were willing to use folic acid or not, and the factors that affected this willingness. Questionnaires were sent to 327 women. The response rate was 57%. The results of this study showed that the majority of women (65.5%) were willing to use folic acid. The main reason for this is that women "would like to have a healthy child". Another important reason is the fear of having regrets afterwards.