Lisa Bell, Know Your Numbers

If a new bundle of joy is in your near future, folic acid should be, too.

You should have about 400 micrograms a day, before you get pregnant.
   
Folic acid is a B vitamin that helps your baby's brain and spinal cord develop, but it needs to be in your system early on -- about a month before you get pregnant is best.

About 3,000 babies are born with neural tube defects every year -- a number that doctors say could drop by as much as 70 percent if moms got enough folic acid before conception.

Most cereals are fortified with folic acid, and good natural sources are beans, leafy green vegetables and orange juice.  Your obstetrician might prescribe a prenatal vitamin for you, too, which has plenty of folic acid.