New research recommends a more extensive use of folic acid nutritional supplements in women who plan to become pregnant.

Specifically, scientists from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston believe women who take folic acid for at least one year before they become pregnant may cut their risk of having a premature baby by half.

The effect holds regardless of age, race or other health factors, they say.

The study analyzed folate supplementation of 38,033 participants in an earlier trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and examined singleton pregnancies while excluding those with medical or obstetrical complications.

“We already know that folic acid supplementation beginning before pregnancy and continuing into the first trimester helps prevent serious birth defects of the brain and spinal cord, such as spina bifida,” says Dr. Alan R. Fleischman, senior vice president and medical director of the March of Dimes.

“[The new] research reinforces our message that every woman of childbearing age should consume 400 micrograms of folic acid daily,” he adds.

Prematurely born children are at an increased risk of complications such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation, chronic lung disease and blindness.