Prevention program for reducing risk for neural tube defects--South Carolina, 1992-1994.

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are common and serious malformations that originate early in pregnancy. In the United States, approximately 4000 pregnancies each year are affected by the two most common NTDs (spina bifida and anencephaly), and an estimated 2500 infants are born with NTDs. Based on a Public Health Service (PHS) recommendation published in September 1992, at least one half of NTDs could be prevented if all women capable of becoming pregnant consumed 0.4 mg of folic acid daily during the periconceptional period (1). Women who have previously had an NTD-affected pregnancy would especially benefit from folic acid supplements (2). In 1992, with support from a CDC cooperative agreement, the South Carolina Department of Disabilities and Special Needs implemented a prevention program to reduce the incidence of folic acid-preventable NTDs in the pregnancies of women with prior NTD-affected pregnancies. This report describes surveillance findings resulting from this program during 1992-1994.