Fish oil benefits during pregnancy questioneds

According to a recent JAMA study, fish-oil supplements don't appear to help pregnant women prevent post-partum depression or boost the baby's brain development as previously believed. Several previous studies have shown that eating fish during pregnancy helped in the baby's brain development and in reducing the risk of post-partum depression.

This latest study does suggest that some subgroups of women might benefit from fish-oil supplements. For instance, those with a history of clinical depression—and thus are at higher risk of post-partum depression—who took 800 milligrams of fish oil daily lowered their risk of getting depressed after the birth by about 4% compared with those who didn't take fish oil.

Women in the fish-oil group had lower rates of pre-term births, particularly births earlier than 34 weeks of gestation.

Bonnie - let's not forget that according to the National Institutes of health, fish oil lowers triglyceride fat levels and are likely helpful in preventing heart disease, decreased blood pressure, improve thinking in kids with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, help with weight loss and reduce the risk of endometrial cancer.

A large body of scientific evidence has established a strong relationship between the DHA status of mothers and infants, and a variety of important pregnancy-related outcomes, including infant development. Unfortunately in this trial, we have no idea of the DHA status of the mothers at the beginning of pregnancy or when they were evaluated for depression. Further, we have no idea of the DHA status of the infants at 18 months when they were evaluated for neurocognitive outcomes. Without measurements of DHA status, it is difficult to draw conclusions from the study and certainly should not provide definitive advice to consumers.

In addition, supplementation occurred from mid-term to delivery—we know that maternal DHA status returns to below pre-pregnancy levels within a few weeks from delivery. A mother in the treatment group who started the trial with low DHA status would have returned to pre-pregnancy status by the time she was evaluated for depression at six weeks and six months post delivery. We may have seen different results if these women took fish oil consistently leading up to, during and after pregnancy (which I recommend), or if we were able to stratify the results based on DHA status.

There is no questioning the importance for pregnant and lactating women to consume the recommended amounts of DHA throughout pregnancy via eating two servings of fatty fish, such as sardines or anchovies, per week, or taking fish oil supplements (containing 200 to 300 mg/d of DHA, according to the Institute of Medicine).

While the benefits of DHA for a healthy pregnancy are well-established, there obviously needs to be more research to determine the effect of DHA on incidence of post-partum depression or neurocognitive development of infants.