Spina Bifida Association of America

Awareness Campaign

Spina Bifida Association of America

• Mission: To promote the prevention of spina bifida and to enhance the lives of all affected

• Local Chapters across the country• Youth and Adult Alliance

young adult members across the country

Seven out of every 10,000 newborns in the United States has spina bifida.

Not all people with spina bifida have the same

disabilitiesA person with spina bifida may

have: – limited or no use of their

legs– loss of bowel and bladder

control– learning disabilities– latex allergies

Many people with spina bifida lead

successful and productive lives.

How does spina bifida happen?

•Birth defects like spina bifida can happen in any family – it’s no one’s fault

•Spina bifida is a neural tube defect (NTD) involving incomplete formation of the spine

•NTDs like spina bifida occur during the first month of pregnancy – before most women know they are pregnant

28 Days Neural Tube FormedFourth pharyngeal (branchial) arch

Third pharyngeal (branchial) arch

Lens placode (primordium of lens)

Lower limb bud

Upper limb bud 10

Actual size

Day 28 of Pregnancy: The Neural Tube is

Formed

Spina bifida is no one’s fault. A combination of different factors causes spina bifida:

•genetics (your family genes)

• maternal environment (things women come in contact with during

pregnancy ) • folic acid deficiency (not having enough of the B-vitamin folic acid)

What causes spina bifida?

Some of the factors that cause spina bifida are out of your control. Taking folic acid is something that you can control.

Women can do what they can and take a multivitamin with the B-vitamin folic acid everyday. Folic acid is not a guarantee, but it can help!

What can reduce the risk of spina bifida?

Synthetic Folic Acid

Foods with Folic Acid “folate”

V.S.

Your body absorbs the synthetic folic acid in a vitamin easier than folic acid in foods like green leafy vegetables, beans or oranges.

It is difficult to get all the folic acid you need from food.

Believe it or not!

How much folic acid should women take?

All women of childbearing age need 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid every day

Some women need to take more folic acid. Women who have:

•spina bifida•a child with spina bifida, or•a history of pregnancies affected by spina bifidaand are planning a pregnancy, should take 4000 mcg for 1 to 3 months before trying to become pregnant.

HOW CAN I HELP?

Create a BUZZ! is a word of mouth campaign of the Spina Bifida Association of America.

Tell your friends and family about spina bifida and the B-vitamin, folic acid. And ask them to tell someone too!

More Information

[FILL IN GROUP MEMBER NAME AND CONTACT INFORMATION HERE]

More Information (cont’d)

Spina Bifida Association of America 4590 MacArthur Blvd., NW, Suite 250Washington, DC 20007-4226National Resource Center: 1-800-621-

3141Web site: www.sbaa.org