Health Update: Tampon advice

TAMPON packets should carry advice on taking folic acid supplements before and during pregnancy, say doctors at Queen Charlotte's and Chelsea Hospital. They argue in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology that Department of Health guidelines recommending a daily folic acid supplement of 0.4mg before conception and for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy fail to reach many women: only 2 per cent of those attending the hospital's antenatal clinic had increased their folic acid intake before conception, while 26 per cent increased intake once they were pregnant.