Folate in pregnancy linked to RTIs in infants

Folic acid supplements in pregnant women were associated with a slightly increased risk of wheeze and lower respiratory tract infections in their infants up to 18 months of age, according to a study published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

In the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study, questionnaire data collected at several time points in pregnancy and after birth, from 32,077 children born between 2000 and 2005, were used to assess effects of folate supplements during pregnancy on respiratory outcomes up to 18 months of age, accounting for other supplements in pregnancy and supplementation in infancy.

Supplementation in the first trimester was associated with increased risk of breathing complications up to 18 months of age. Adjusting for exposure later in pregnancy and in infancy, the relative risk of wheeze for children exposed to folate in the first trimester was 1.06, for lower respiratory tract infections the relative risk was 1.09 and 1.24 for hospitalizations from lower RTIs.