Recipes for a healthy pregnancy The defects covered in the study are very rare overall , occurring in less than 0.1 % of all births . They have become less common since the 1990s , when government health officials led a campaign to increase folic-acid intake among pregnant women through supplements and fortified grain products . Deficiencies in folic acid -- the synthetic form of folate , a B vitamin -- have been linked to both neural-tube defects and cleft lip and palate . Carmichael and her colleagues took into account whether the women in the study were taking folic acid , which suggests that a healthy diet provides protection against birth defects over and above that provided by folic acid . Women of childbearing age should , however , still take folic-acid supplements , says Gail Harrison , Ph.D. , a professor of community health services at the UCLA School of Public Health , in Los Angeles . `` Folic acid has made a difference , '' says Harrison , who was not involved in the study . `` In countries that have used fortification levels higher than the U.S. , it has made an even bigger impact .
-LRB- Health.com -RRB- -- Women run a lower risk of having babies with certain birth defects if they eat a diet rich in fruits , vegetables , and whole grains during their childbearing years , a new study suggests . Women who followed healthy Mediterranean-style diets in the year before pregnancy were up to one-half as likely as those who ate diets high in meat , fat , and sugar to have a baby with anencephaly , a neural-tube defect that blocks the development of the brain and tends to result in miscarriage . Compared with fat - and sugar-heavy diets , healthier diets -- which included plenty of folate , iron , and calcium -- were also associated with up to a one-third lower risk of cleft lip , a one-quarter lower risk of cleft palate , and a one-fifth lower risk of spina bifida , another neural-tube defect . `` Diet quality matters , and it was protective , '' says Suzan L. Carmichael , Ph.D. , the lead author of the study and an associate professor of pediatrics at the Stanford School of Medicine , in Palo Alto , California . Health.com : Feed the Belly :