BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A California state law passed in January that required food makers to add folic acid to corn masa flour.
An afterthought for some, but for mothers in early stages of pregnancy, critical and for Latina women, even more so.
For nearly 30 years, folic acid has been added to foods like white bread, cereal and pasta.
A key B vitamin that matters in the early stages of pregnancies.
“It plays a huge role in helping that spinal column close properly and also encasing the brain in the skull properly,” Dr. Roxanne McDermott with Dignity Health said.
Before January, it was never required in corn masa flour, a common component in Latino dishes.
For Andrea Lopez, a Bakersfield native, that possible nightmare was a shocking reality.
“I think it’s important that we’ve taken a step in fortifying corn masa products, because people consuming those products might not otherwise know or have access to the folic acid that they need to prevent neural tube defects,” Andrea Lopez said.
Anencephaly, a neural tube defect that can be linked to low folic acid, was the terminal condition for her son Gabriel.
“Carrying to term was my best opportunity to meet him alive. I’ve known he was coming to me since I was a child. I knew that I would have a little boy one day, and I just wanted to see him and meet him face to face,” Lopez said.
And she did.
Doctors said Gabriel likely wouldn’t make it past 24 hours.
He made it to 10 days.
“They were the best and most difficult 10 days of my life. I always knew he wasn’t going to get to stay, so I didn’t sleep much because I didn’t want to miss much,” Lopez said.
A short-lived life with an impact worth lifetimes, and though painful for Andrea, a chance for her story to benefit others.
Report yet to be released in external review of Kern County CPS
“I don’t want that to happen to anybody. There’s nobody in this world that deserves that, and so I want people to be aware,” Lopez said.
Lopez now has two kids and a third waiting for her in the next lifetime.
“I miss my son with every beat of my heart. I want to live my life in a way that makes me worthy of getting to spend eternity with him,” Lopez said.
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