Did you know there's a vitamin so important to our health that an entire week has been devoted to it? Each year in January, we celebrate National Folic Acid Awareness Week. The National Council on Folic Acid believes everybody should know just how many birth defects can be prevented with adequate amounts of folic acid.

Most doctors prescribe the vitamin to their pregnant patients, but studies are showing folic acid should be present before conception. Joanna Strong-Millsap from Redlands, Calif., began taking folic acid far before she decided to get pregnant.

"I began taking folic acid supplements when I got married, even though I knew we weren't even going to try to get pregnant for six months," says Strong-Millsap. "I continued taking it daily throughout my pregnancy and during breastfeeding for good measure."

After having been told of the wonders of folic acid, Strong-Millsap did some research and learned there is a very strong connection between the supplement and the prevention of birth defects. So just what is folic acid, and why does it work so well?

Dr. Susan Vogler, a physician on staff at Harbour Women's Health in Portsmouth, N.H., says folic acid is a B vitamin that plays an essential role in making new body cells by helping produce DNA and RNA, which is necessary for cell reproduction.

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