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Mike Mitka

JAMA. 2001;286:1443.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Many physicians are missing a key opportunity to prevent birth defects by not telling their female patients to take a daily multivitamin containing folic acid, says the March of Dimes.

The voluntary health agency made its comments following the September 5 release of a survey of 2001 women aged 18 to 45 conducted by the Gallup Organization under a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In the survey, 76% of the women said their physicians did not discuss the benefits of folic acid to prevent neural tube defects. Fewer than one third of US women of childbearing age, not pregnant, take a daily multivitamin containing folic acid. But 20% of women asked said that they would be more likely to do so if physician or other health care professional said to.

The March of Dimes recommends that all women capable of becoming pregnant should take . . . [Full Text of this Article]