Will high dose of foliamin can affect the baby?

Question: I am pregnant and have eaten foliamin 1 tablet two times a day, morning and evening for about one month. Later I knew that the doctor ordered me to take one tablet once a day after breakfast, only. Now I worry about what happens to the pregnancy. Will it affect the unborn child or not?

Answer: Foliamin or Folic acid is used in pregnant women for prevention of disorders of the brain and spinal cord of baby. The recommended dose in pregnant women is 0.4-0.5 mg per day. The questioner did not specify the dose received, but it is expected to be 5 mg per tablet which is commonly used, especially in pregnant women with risk of neural tube defect of baby.

A follow-up study of the intellectual development of infants born from mothers who received folic acid in doses of 5 mg per day, higher dose of 5 mg per day, compared with mothers who did not receive folic acid during 14-18 weeks of pregnancy.

The data found that children born from mothers who received folic acid in doses of 5 mg per day was associated with improved understanding of the language and improved language usage when compared with children born from mothers who did not receive folic acid, and children born from mothers who take folic acid in high doses over 5 mg per day did not develop increasing more than children born from mothers who received foliamin 5 mg per day

However, the study did not report the danger caused by folic acid in high doses over 5 mg. Information on toxicity of folic acid when given in high doses is unknown. But it is reported that healthy volunteers who received high doses of about 15 milligrams of folic acid per day is associated with behavioral changes such as restlessness. And they increased response to stimuli and had sleep disorders.

References:

1. Chatzi L et al. Effect of high doses of folic acid supplementation in early pregnancy on child neurodevelopment at 18 months of age: the mother-child cohort "Rhea" study in Crete, Greece. Public Health Nutrition 2012; 15 (9): 1728-36.

2. Briggs GG, Freeman RK, Yaffe SJ. Drug in pregnancy and lactation. 8th ed. Philadelphia wolters Kluwer Lippincott Williams and wikins; 2008.