Yvette Nyiravuguziga, 26, carried her pregnancy for nine months hoping to deliver a healthy bouncing baby. At the end of the nine months, she gave birth to a baby boy but the head was bigger than normal, something which medics refer to as hydrocephalus.

On consultation, the doctor said the condition could have been avoided if the mother had been taking folic acid tablets right from the first month of conception.

Dr Vincent Kanimba, a neurosurgeon at the CHUK Hospital, explains that hydrocephalus is a rare condition resulting from excessive accumulation of fluid in the brain.

"Hydrocephalus in infants is the most obvious and there is a rapid increase in head circumference or an unusually large head size,” Kanimba says.

The infant can also be born with spinal cord problems if its mother never took folic acid.

Experts continue to say that with insufficient folic acid intake, a pregnant mother risks suffering hydrocephalus among other conditions.

Other sources of folic acid

Folic acid or folate is vitamin B9 that can also be found in foods such as dried beans, peas, lentils, oranges, whole-wheat products, liver, asparagus, beets, broccoli, brussels sprouts, and spinach.

Even fruits like oranges, bananas and strawberries as well as legumes, cereals, nuts and yeast extracts can also act as a supplement for folic acid.

Experts say that pregnant women have to gorge on such kinds of foods to prevent serious birth defects such as sipina bifida that usually occurs at a very early stage of development.

Dr Iba Mayele, an obstetrician at Clinic Doctor Plaza at Kimironko, says it is important for women to increase intake of foods rich in folic acid as soon as they conceive.

"The earlier the mother starts taking folic acid the better. Folic acid boosts the development and formation of the foetus at an early stage. Deformation of the foetus may occur if the mother did not start using the supplement at the beginning of the pregnancy,” he says.

Mayale adds that expectant mothers with a deficiency of folic acid suffer dizziness, tiredness and frequent headaches among other things.

"The mother can also suffer from anaemia, which can cause the foetus to die in the womb, putting the mother’s life at risk. Pregnant women should try as much as possible not to skip supplements rich in folic acid. They can also take a lot of fruits and vegetables,” he says.

Vanessa Mulisa, a midwife at CHUK Hospital, says although it is rare to get such cases, still expectant women should not stop using folic acid and iron-rich supplements.

"We advise expectant women to use folic acid whenever they come for their check-ups. On annual basis, we can experience between about four cases of children born with conditions related to folic acid deficiency,” Mulisa says, adding that women are always sensitised about the importance of folic acid during antenatal visits.”

Meanwhile, without folic acid women stand higher chances of getting the deficiency characterized "by diarrhea, loss of appetite, and weight loss, as well as weakness, a sore tongue, heart palpitations and irritability.

"If a mother is only mildly deficient, she may not notice any symptoms at all, but this will still affect the baby’s early embryonic development,” Mulisa adds.