A study recently published online in the British Medical Journal suggests that folic acid may play a role in reducing the likelihood of a baby being born with an isolated cleft lip (folic acid seemed to provide no protection against cleft palate). Researchers found that a daily intake of 0.4 milligrams of folic acid reduced the chance of isolated clefts by as much as 33%.

The lowest risk of cleft lip was amongst women who augmented their folate rich diets with folic acid supplements and multivitamins.

Folic acid is a form of the water soluble vitamin, B9. It occurs naturally in certain foods such as spinach, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, asparagus, orange juice, strawberries, dried beans, kidney beans, baked beans, peanuts, peas, fortified cereal products, sunflower seeds and liver.