Importance of Folic Acid

Vanessa Minnillo is the celebrity face of a new campaign called “Girlfriends for Folate!” The campaign is sponsored by The March of Dimes, Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, and DailyCandy.com. The goal of the campaign is to raise awareness among women about the importance of taking folic acid daily.

Folate is a B vitamin that can be taken as folic acid. The vitamin helps cells regenerate and reduce the risk of spine and brain birth defects in babies, known as neural tube defects. These defects can form in the first weeks of pregnancy, before a woman even knows she’s pregnant, which is why it is so important to take folic acid on a daily basis. For its part in the campaign, Bayer will donate $1 for every woman who registers with Girlfriends for Folate. Minnillo will lead a celebrity March of Dimes in either NYC, LA, Houston, or Minneapolis, depending on which U.S. region has the most registered participants. The regions are divided into: Edgy East, Midwest Maven, Southern Belle, and Woman of the West.