Investigation on folic acid supplementation status among Chinese women in the first trimester of pregnancy

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To investigate folic acid (FA) supplementation status among Chinese rural reproductive women in their early pregnancy, and to provide evidence for the evaluation of FA supplementation project from national basic public health services. The data on intake status of FA supplementation from "National Free Preconception Health Examination Project (NFPHEP)" database between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2012 was used and analyzed.A total of 902 270 women who achieved follow-up during early pregnancy from 220 pilot counties of 31 provinces were recruited. From 2010 to 2012, the rate of FA intake among women recuited were 73.58% (134 131/182 289), 75.88% (329 288/433 970) and 76.53% (218 896/286 011), respectively, which increased year by year (χtrend(2)=13 371.8, P<0.001). Among 682 315 women who took FA, 350 738(51.40%) women began to take FA 3 months before amenorrhea; 130 683 (19.15%) women began to take FA 1-2 months before amenorrhea, and 200 894 (29.44%) began to take FA after amenorrhea.Among 682 315 women who took FA, 645 310 (94.58%) women took it regularly, and 342 418 (50.18%) women took FA in a standardized way. The status of FA intake among Chinese rural women in the first trimester of pregnancy was good, and 75.62% (682 315/902 270) of them took FA.It is also important for basic public health services to improve the rate of FA intake and increase the rate of taking FA in a standardized way in Chinese rural pregnant women.