Today we honor Lucy Wills

 

Today we honor Lucy Wills, the woman who created prenatal vitamins.

Lucy Wills,  born in Birmingham, England in 1888, she studied botany and geology and received a certificate in 1911. In 1915 she enrolled in The London School of Medicine for Women and legally  became a medical practitioner in 1920, earning her bachelor degrees in medicine and science.

In 1928, she did research about pregnant women and anemia and realized that the Bombay women had a correlation between their dietary habits and likelihood of their becoming anemic during pregnancy. Ultimately, her studies suggested that a vitamin deficiency was to blame.

Her discovery was the first step toward creation of folic acid. For many years it was the Wills Factor until folic acid was named in 1941 when it was isolated from spinach.

Now the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends that women take 400 micrograms of folic acid are taken every day.

May 10, 1888 – April 16, 1964

Happy Birthday Lucy Wills and Thank You for all that you did for women and their babies!

 

Source: https://www.cnet
.com/news/google-doodle-honors-lucy-wills-pioneering-prenatal-care-researcher/
Pic Source: https://www.google.com/

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