Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they measure the policy advice on taking folic acid supplements give to women planning a pregnancy by take-up, according to (1) socio-economic group, (2) ethnicity and (3) regional location.

The Department does not routinely collect the information requested.

The Infant Feeding Survey 2010, published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre in November 2012, found that most mothers (94%) reported that they took folic acid either before or during pregnancy. More than a third (37%) said they took folic acid before they were pregnant, increasing to 79% who reported taking it during the first three months of pregnancy, while 23% took it later on in pregnancy.

A copy of Chapter 11 of the Infant Feeding Survey 2010 which relates to Folic Acid has been attached.