Maternal and infant vitamin B12, folate and homocysteine in pregnancy and postpartum

Background - Vitamin B12 (cobalamin) and folate are important nutrients for pregnancy, with deficiencies related to serious adverse outcomes including neural tube defects. Objectives - (i) To longitudinally characterise the values of plasma B12 (pB12), plasma folate (pFol) and red cell folate (rcFol), in a cohort of women during pregnancy and after birth; and (ii) to conduct a mother-infant paired subanalysis of vitamin B12 and folate biomarkers in relation to plasma homocysteine (pHcy).