Friend-to-Friend Folic Acid Campaign

The Health Department is partnering with St. Elizabeth Medical Healthcare to provide non-pregnant women of childbearing age with folic acid. This program will run through January of 2010 in all Health Department county health centers.

In the Friend-to-Friend folic acid campaign, women of childbearing age will receive a postcard for free folic acid from a friend or family member that attends St. Elizabeth childbirth education classes. They will call a Health Department health center to schedule a visit and receive a bottle of folic acid free of charge. The referring friend will receive a $5 gift card to Wal-Mart for participating in this campaign.

The current recommendation is that all women in their childbearing years take a multiple vitamin with 400 mcg folic acid and consume a diet high in folic acid, as 50 percent of pregnancies are unplanned. Along with folic acid, women can receive family planning services and Medical Nutrition Counseling to ensure that their diet is adequate in folic acid. Call the health center in your county to schedule your appointment, and get the information you need to have a healthy pregnancy.

For more information, visit the Kentucky Folic acid partnership's Web site at http://kfap.org/

Learn more about the benefits of folic acid.