Causes of spine defects (read spine bifida) in babies: Society still treats spine bifida with a lot of stigma and many times it is linked to witchcraft.

But the condition is a birth defect that involves incomplete closure of the spinal cord or its covering. ‘One or more of the bones that make up the spine don’t form correctly, leaving a gap in the spine and causing nerve damage.’

It’s influenced by deficiency of folic acid before conception and during the first months of pregnancy. A total of 95% of mothers in Uganda never plan for their pregnancies.

Ugandan women only get to know after they have missed their periods. Folic acid is an essential nutrient early growth and development of the baby’s spinal cord in the first 28 days of pregnancy.

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