Folic acid, in combination with vitamin B-12 and vitamin C, is considered essential by health care providers for women that are planning pregnancy. Being on a healthy diet and adding a daily dose of 400 micrograms of folic acid in a multivitamin along with folic acid rich foods is highly recommended by researchers and midwives. A lack of dietary folic acid leads to folate deficiency (FD). This can result in many health problems, the most notable one being neural tube defects in developing embryo.