Although pregnant women need far more protein, calcium and iron than they normally do, the amount of vitamins they need is slightly higher than the average person, and for most pregnant women who eat a healthy diet a little more food may be enough. Since vitamins are found in almost all foods, it is unlikely that you and your baby will develop vitamin deficiencies as long as you maintain a balanced and sensible diet. Therefore, as long as the pregnant woman has a good diet. Many doctors, do not specifically recommend multivitamins for pregnant women. Increase your intake of folic acid (folicacid). With one exception, additional folic acid supplementation is still necessary. Although folic acid is found in abundance in everyday foods such as common lettuce, beans, cashews, nutty liver, dark yellow fruits and vegetables, and cauliflower, it is a B vitamin that is essential for healthy fetal growth, so it is needed in twice the usual amount during pregnancy. This is especially true because this water-soluble vitamin cannot be stockpiled in the body and because the kidneys excrete it more quickly during pregnancy, so the depletion of this vitamin is relatively higher; these are the reasons why additional folic acid supplementation is needed. In general, a pregnant woman should have a normal daily intake of 400-800 mcg (1 mcrogram). Folic acid deficiency is associated with primary spina bifida, a malformation of the fetal central nervous system. According to recent studies, the likelihood of fetal spinal disorders is drastically reduced in pregnant women who maintain a folic acid intake between 1,000 and 4,000 mcg during the first 6 to 12 weeks of pregnancy. Another recent study also reported that people with different body types have different requirements for folic acid and, perhaps, some women are predisposed to folic acid deficiency, making it even more important for them to take folic acid supplements when they become pregnant.