Study objective. To study the efficacy of folic acid drugs, in particular metafolin, at the stage of pregravid preparation and during pregnancy to prevent congenital malformations and complications of pregnancy.Material and methods. We conducted a search of the literature sources by the keywords «folic acid», «folates», «metafolin», «pregnancy», «methyltetrahydrofolate» in domestic and foreign databases: elibrary, Medline/PubMed, Embase, CINAHL. 23 sources were selected.Study results. One of

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... main challenges that the obstetrician faces is the prevention of pregnancy complications and congenital malformations of the fetus. In the literature there is considerable amount of evidence about the effectiveness of folic acid. However, the natural food folates and folic acid preparations may not be absorbed to a sufficient degree by the body in women with defects in folate-converting enzymes, the incidence rate of which reaches 50%.Conclusion. All women at the stage of pregravid preparation and during pregnancy should take folates to prevent complications of pregnancy and congenital malformations in the fetus. Given the high prevalence of mutations in genes responsible for folateconverting enzymes, in clinical practice it is recommended to use folates able to be absorbed by the body regardless of genetic variants of the folate cycle enzymes.