A nurse is instructing a woman who is contemplating pregnancy about nutritional needs. To reduce the risk of giving birth to a newborn who has a neural tube defect, which of the following information should the nurse include in the teaching?

A. Iron-rich foods are important for preventing maternal anemia but do not prevent neural tube defects. B. Avoiding aspartame is not related to neural tube defect prevention; it may be advised for other reasons (e.g., phenylketonuria), but not for neural tube defects. C. Limiting alcohol reduces the risk of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders but does not specifically prevent neural tube defects. D. Folic acid is critical for neural tube development during early pregnancy. Women contemplating pregnancy should consume 400–800 mcg of folic acid daily through fortified foods or supplements to reduce the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly.