In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating Dr. Lucy Wills, the hematologist who discovered our best friend–folate.

Dr. Wills was born in 1888 to a family with science in their blood. She attended Cheltenham Ladies’ College, Newnham College in Cambridge, and the London School of Medicine for Women, becoming legally qualified to practice medicine in May of 1920.

Rather than practice medicine, Lucy decided to become a medical researcher and teacher, specifically spending her time researching pregnancy. In 1928, she began researching a condition called macrocytic anemia, in which red blood cells are larger than normal.

During her research, Dr. Wills discovered poor pregnant women in Bombay were experiencing a different type of anemia. While vitamin B-12 had been used as a treatment for anemia in the past, it wasn’t working on these pregnant women. She concluded that there must have been another nutritional deficiency these women were experiencing rather than a pure vitamin B-12 deficiency. This unknown nutritional factor was referred to as the “Wills Factor.”

In an effort to alleviate macrocytic anemia in these women, Dr. Wills conducted clinical trials. She found this type of anemia could be both prevented and cured by yeast extracts.

In the 1940s, the “Wills Factor” was officially identified as folate.

From the “Wills Factor” to birth defect prevention

Dr. Wills’ work laid the foundation for decades of folate research. Researchers have studied the link between low folate levels and neural tube defects since 1965, and in the 1990s, two large clinical trials showed that taking vitamins with folic acid before and during early pregnancy helped lower the risk of these serious birth defects of the brain and spine, according to the CDC. Those findings led to the U.S. recommendation that women who could become pregnant get 400 mcg of folic acid every day, and to the fortification of enriched grain products beginning in 1998.

The type of anemia Dr. Wills studied still exists today. Folate-deficiency anemia, a type of megaloblastic anemia, causes red blood cells to become abnormally large. It most often responds well to treatment.

We are so thankful for Dr. Wills and all women who help provide babies with the best start possible.

#womenshistorymonth

Updated October 2026. This article is for general information and is not a substitute for advice from your health care provider.

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