"January is an ideal month to release grant awards," notes March of Dimes Program Services Committee Chair Beth McBurney-White. "January is Birth Defects Prevention Month and the first week of January is Folic Acid Awareness Week. Several of our grant programs focus on strategies to prevent or reduce risks for birth defects, including a focus on consuming folic acid before and during pregnancy."

        The theme of this year's Birth Defects Prevention Month is managing weight for a healthy pregnancy. Managing weight is never easy and the many changes that come along with pregnancy can make it even more difficult.  However, it is important because women who are overweight or obese have higher odds of having complications during pregnancy including hypertension (high blood pressure), preeclampsia and eclampsia or gestational diabetes.  Each of these conditions may require medication and treatment and put the health of not only mothers, but their babies at risk.

        The increased risks to babies include being obese in childhood, being born prematurely or having certain birth defects, including neural tube defects such as spina bifida.

        The best way to reduce these risks is to achieve a healthy weight before becoming pregnant. During pregnancy only 300 additional calories are needed daily to support a baby's growth. Those calories can be supplied by a simple snack such as one of these:

·        A couple of whole wheat crackers with peanut butter, a small glass of low fat milk and a small apple.

·        Small yogurt with a handful of granola and a small orange.

·        One cheese stick, a handful of walnuts, a few strawberries and a stick of celery with peanut butter.

        In 2009, Ohio March of Dimes is funding a grant to Tri-Rivers Career Center in Marion. The grant will provide nutrition information and education to high school students in the GRADS program, which serves pregnant and parenting teens who are finishing high school. Curriculum will focus on good eating habits for a lifetime. In addition, the grant will include information on consuming folic acid before, during and between pregnancies, another critical nutrition component of a healthy pregnancy.

        Several other grant programs will encourage women of childbearing age to consume adequate levels of folic acid in their diets, including grants to Family Health Services of East Central Ohio in Newark and the Preble County General Health District.  Folic acid is a B vitamin that can help prevent birth defects of the brain and spinal cord called neural tube defects (NTDs). Folic acid works to prevent these birth defects only if taken before conception and during early pregnancy. Studies show that if all women consumed the recommended amount of folic acid before and during early pregnancy, up to 70 percent of all NTDs could be prevented.

        The March of Dimes recommends that all women who can become pregnant take a multivitamin that contains 400 micrograms of folic acid every day starting before pregnancy, as part of a healthy diet. This advice, based on recommendations from the Institute of Medicine (IOM), assures that a woman can get all the folic acid and other vitamins she needs daily. A 2007 March of Dimes Gallup survey showed that only 40 percent of women of childbearing age in the United States take a vitamin with folic acid daily.

        A healthy diet includes foods that are fortified with folic acid and foods that contain folate, the natural form of folic acid that is found in foods. Many grain products in the United States are fortified with folic acid. Enriched flour, rice, pasta, bread and cereals are examples of fortified grain products. Folate-rich foods include leafy green vegetables, dried beans, legumes, oranges and orange juice.

Athens County Department of Job and Family Services (Year Two): to implement an on-going prenatal smoking cessation program utilizing the 5As and behavioral modification methods.

Aultman Hospital: to expand capacity and increase participation in its existing centering pregnancy program by providing a centering training workshop to 50 staff, residents, and other members of the community.

Brighton Center, Inc. (Year Two):  to provide one-on-one case management, home visitation and bi-monthly interactive health-related group sessions. 

Community Health Partners Regional Foundation (Year Two): to continue a home visiting program in which staff members serve as mentors, teachers, advocates and friends helping pregnant and parenting clients achieve healthier lifestyles.

Family Health Services of East Central Ohio, Inc. (Year Two): to implement an education program for women from Licking, Muskingum and Perry counties who present a positive pregnancy test, are planning a pregnancy, and/or who present for a comprehensive physical examination. 

Good Samaritan Hospital Foundation (Year Three): to continue The Centering Pregnancy Program which provides prenatal care to pregnant high-risk teens living in underserved neighborhoods in Hamilton County.

Humility of Mary Health Partners: to implement the BABY (Bridging Access to Barriers in the Youngstown area) Program.

Life Resource Centre: to implement Promise Your Baby which provides prenatal education, incentives, and professional/peer support.

Nationwide Children's Hospital: to support a prenatal oral health program at Nationwide Children's.

Preble County General Health District (Year Three): to increase participation in maternal child health programs, maintain the availability of smoking cessation services, and provide education of the importance of folic acid for childbearing age women in Preble County. 

The Toledo Hospital: to initiate a centering pregnancy program through certified nurse midwives in neighborhood health clinics serving at-risk women.

Tri-Rivers Career Center GRADS Program: to focus on improving the diets of pregnant teens and emphasizes folic acid education.

     The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health.  With chapters nationwide and its premier event, March for Babies the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org.