Quick answer
Women need 400 mcg DFE of folate a day, 600 mcg DFE in pregnancy and 500 mcg DFE while breastfeeding. Anyone who could become pregnant is advised to take 400 to 800 mcg of folic acid a day as a supplement, starting at least a month before pregnancy.1,2,3
Key facts
- From food alone, US women average 455 mcg DFE of folate a day, against 602 mcg for men.3
- The advice for anyone who could become pregnant names folic acid, not methylfolate, even for women with an MTHFR variant.1
- Women over 50 need the same 400 mcg DFE a day, with the same 1,000 mcg upper limit for folic acid.1
- Obstetricians recommend a prenatal vitamin for most pregnant women, partly to cover folic acid.3
How much women need at each stage
| Stage | Recommended, mcg DFE | Folic acid advice |
|---|---|---|
| Girls 14 to 18 | 400 | 400 mcg a day from supplements, fortified foods or both, if she could become pregnant |
| Women 19 and over | 400 | The same, or a 400 to 800 mcg supplement, if she could become pregnant |
| Pregnancy | 600 | A prenatal vitamin is recommended for most |
| Breastfeeding | 500 | No separate folic acid advice |
| After menopause | 400 | No separate folic acid advice |
Even counting supplements, 19% of girls aged 14 to 18 and 17% of women aged 19 to 30 get less than the average requirement, as do 23% of non-Hispanic Black women.3
What folate does in pregnancy
Contributes to maternal tissue growth during pregnancy*1,2,3,4
Moderate evidence
Pregnancy raises the need for folate because of its role in making DNA while tissues grow quickly, so the recommended amount rises from 400 to 600 mcg DFE a day. The EU permits this statement. Separately, US advice is that everyone who could become pregnant gets 400 mcg of folic acid a day from supplements, fortified foods or both, on top of food folate, and the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends a daily supplement with 400 to 800 mcg.
Amount studied: 600 mcg DFE a day in pregnancy from all sources; 400 to 800 mcg of folic acid a day as a supplement for anyone who could become pregnant
Need rises because pregnancy means rapid cell growth, and every new cell needs folate to copy its DNA.3
Before pregnancy
US advice is 400 mcg of folic acid a day from supplements, fortified foods or both, in addition to the folate in a varied diet. The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends a daily supplement with 400 to 800 mcg.1,2
About half of US pregnancies are unplanned, which is why folic acid advice covers everyone who could become pregnant.3
Blood folate takes months to build, so the advice is to start before pregnancy as a daily habit rather than at a positive test.5,6
Folic acid or methylfolate?
In a 24-week trial of 144 women aged 19 to 33, 416 mcg a day of methylfolate raised red blood cell folate more than 400 mcg of folic acid. Even so, NIH and the CDC advise folic acid for anyone who could become pregnant, including women with an MTHFR variant, and the pregnancy trial evidence NIH describes is for folic acid.1,3,6
Women over 50
After menopause the recommendation stays at 400 mcg DFE and the pregnancy advice no longer applies. Adults aged 51 to 70 are the most likely to take folic acid supplements, and about 5% of them take in more than the upper limit, mainly from supplements.1,3
A typical adult supplement already provides 680 to 1,360 mcg DFE, well above the 400 mcg DFE recommendation, so check labels before adding a second product with folic acid.3
Cautions for women
Women who do not get enough folate are more likely to have a baby with a neural tube defect, such as spina bifida, and low folate is also linked to premature birth and low birth weight.1
After a pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect, experts advise 4,000 to 5,000 mcg of folic acid a day, starting at least 1 to 3 months before conception. That is above the upper limit and is taken only under medical supervision.3
In one study NIH cites, mothers who took 1,000 mcg or more of folic acid a day from supplements around conception had children with lower scores on several development tests at age 4 to 5 than mothers who took 400 to 999 mcg.3
Large amounts of folic acid can correct the anemia caused by low vitamin B12 without stopping the nerve damage it also causes, so the B12 problem can go unnoticed until the damage is permanent. Large doses might also make the effects of low B12 worse.1,3,7
Women who take methotrexate, an anti-seizure medicine or sulfasalazine and could become pregnant should plan folate with their doctor, because each of these medicines affects folate.1
Questions people ask
Should I take folic acid if I am not planning a pregnancy?
If you could become pregnant, US advice says yes. About half of pregnancies are unplanned, and neural tube defects form in the first weeks after conception, before many women know they are pregnant.3
Does a prenatal vitamin cover my folic acid?
Prenatal vitamins usually contain folic acid, and obstetricians recommend one for most pregnant women. Check the label: the folic acid amount appears in parentheses after the DFE figure.3
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Sources
- National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Folate: Fact Sheet for Consumers. Updated November 1, 2022. Opened 2026-10-07.
- US Preventive Services Task Force. Folic Acid Supplementation to Prevent Neural Tube Defects: US Preventive Services Task Force Reaffirmation Recommendation Statement. JAMA. 2023;330(5):454-459. Opened 2026-10-07.
- National Institutes of Health, Office of Dietary Supplements. Folate: Fact Sheet for Health Professionals. Updated November 30, 2022. Opened 2026-10-07.
- European Commission. Commission Regulation (EU) No 432/2012 of 16 May 2012 establishing a list of permitted health claims made on foods. Official Journal of the European Union, L 136, 25.5.2012, p. 1. Opened 2026-10-07.
- Hao L, Yang QH, Li Z, et al. Folate status and homocysteine response to folic acid doses and withdrawal among young Chinese women in a large-scale randomized double-blind trial. Am J Clin Nutr. 2008;88(2):448-457. Opened 2026-10-07.
- Lamers Y, Prinz-Langenohl R, Brämswig S, Pietrzik K. Red blood cell folate concentrations increase more after supplementation with (6S)-5-methyltetrahydrofolate than with folic acid in women of childbearing age. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006;84(1):156-161. Opened 2026-10-07.
- Folic acid tablets, 1 mg: prescribing information (Rising Pharma Holdings). DailyMed, U.S. National Library of Medicine. Published August 3, 2026. Opened 2026-10-07.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
This page is information, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your own situation.