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Folate, or folic acid, is a natural vitamin found in small quantities in fresh leafy vegetables (but damaged if these are cooked) and is highly recommended (in Australia at least) as a supplement for women who are trying to conceive.
The vitamin is essential during the first 8 weeks of the baby's development (starting right from fertilisation)and is necessary throughout pregnancy.
A daily supplement of folate, started before conception, decreases the risk of neural tube defects (eg. spina bifida) by 80%. If there has never been a baby with spina bifida in the family before, the incident is around 1 in 1000. If there is family history, the odds are much greater at around 1 in 25.
But if you've already had 2 kids you probably already have a good understanding of what a good diet during pregnancy includes.
I'm very sorry to hear about your miscarriage, I can see where your worries are stemming from.
Did your Doctor go through with you the probable cause of the miscarriage? Like was the placenta attached in the wrong place or anything? Have you had regular pap smears? - that'd rule out most problems with your cervical stability. Any prolapse, major UTI's that may have spread, were you checked for gestational diabetes and high blood pressure during pregnancy?
Man I'm probably just making you more worried than you need to be, I'm sorry. Having a baby just generally takes more patience as time goes on. Which is a little counter intuitive in this day and age when teenage pregnancy is a bummer and women are trying to start their families later.
But Mom, please don't tie yourself in a knot. Have faith that everything will turn out ok over time. And you can rule out, one by one, all the possible problems. I wish you all the best.
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