A LEADING NHS public health expert is calling on the Scottish Government t to "get on" with adding folic acid to flour in a bid to prevent birth defects.

Dr Linda de Caestecker, director of public health for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said Scotland should become the first UK nation to introduce legislation requiring flour to be fortified with folate.

In an article for The Herald, Dr de Caestecker, who also served as Deputy Director of the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics last year, said 70 other nations had already taken the step.

Read more: We can lead way in averting birth defects with folic acid supplements

However, the UK government is not currently moving to introduce the policy despite the recommendation of the UK Food Standards Agency. The Scottish Government has commissioned Food Standards Scotland to research the possibility, although they are not expecting to report back until next Spring.

More children in Scotland are born with spina bifida - one of the conditions which can be prevented if mothers have sufficient folic acid in their system - than anywhere else in the UK.

Dr de Caestecker said folic acid fortification had been the practice in the United States since 1998. "Let's get on and do it," she said. "The evidence is strong it is a really good public health intervention. Let's make it happen in Scotland."

Folic acid, also known as vitamin B9, significantly reduces the risk of what are known as neural tube defects in infants. Embryos develop a structure called the neural tube, which will ultimately become the brain and spinal cord, in the first few weeks after conception. When this does not develop properly infants can suffer a number of potentially devastating health problems including spina bifida which can lead to mobility problems, bladder and bowel issues and brain damage.

Read more: We can lead way in averting birth defects with folic acid supplements

There is also an increased risk of miscarriage or the baby dying shortly after birth.

Dr de Caestecker said: "It is a horrible thing for a mother. Sometimes it can mean a late termination which means a woman going into labour. That is a very distressing situation. But it could be that that was prevented and she would have had a normal pregnancy."

If a mother has enough folic acid in her system before she conceives it has been shown to reduce the incidence of neural tube defects by 72 per cent. Women trying to get pregnant are currently advised to take folic acid so their levels are high enough. However, Dr de Caestecker says this system best suits well-educated, well-advised and well-informed women. For others, including the many parents who fall pregnant unexpectedly, by the time they know they are carrying a child it may be too late.

Fortifying grain, she argues, is a way to ensure levels of vitamin B9 are higher in general. Dr Caestecker concludes her article: "There is no serious, evidence-based, scientific case against folate fortification. It is a great opportunity to be the first nation in the UK to leave the starting gate and bolt toward a future of better pregnancy outcomes, social justice among parents and babies less likely to be burdened with birth defects that could have been prevented."

Every week in Scotland another pregnancy is affected by spina bifida or hydrocephalus, which can affect the brain.

Read more: We can lead way in averting birth defects with folic acid supplements

Andrew, Wynd, chief executive of charity Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland, said: “We were disheartened earlier this year when plans for implementation in England were firmly halted but folic acid fortification remains particularly relevant in Scotland as more children are born with spina bifida in Scotland than anywhere else in the UK."