... healthier babies

Little things, well-timed and communicated, can make a world of difference, even to the point of saving lives. That's the case regarding a campaign begun about a decade ago in North Carolina to have prospective mothers take a cheap, easily obtainable diet supplement that has been proven to prevent serious birth defects.

An effort supported by state lawmakers has produced a significant drop in neural tube defects in infants. That arcane medical term has terrible real-life effects on hundreds of newborns, from spina bifida, the failure of the spinal column to close, to anencephaly, the failure of major portions of the brain, skull and scalp to form.

Recent data show that the rate of spina bifida in the state, for instance, was down to 34 per 100,000 births in 2005, from 62 per 100,000 in 1995. Anencephaly dropped to 15 per 100,000 births from 24 during the same period. Research and experience in other states had shown that the use of folic acid lowered incidents of neural tube defects. But delays in informing mothers of the findings resulted in this state having a high rate of the problems.

Health officials got the message and turned up the volume in a public information campaign. Legislators joined in financing the educational effort and helping mothers afford the supplements.

It may never be known how many youngsters were saved from the struggle with spina bifida or from an early death, which is the fate of most anencephaly victims. Or how much money was saved by families and the state by avoiding the intensive care that must be given to those afflicted with neural tube defects. But this was a challenge that state government recognized and worked effectively to address.