14 DAY TRIAL // There is no evidence that taking oil fish capsules during pregnancy will reduce post-natal depression or improve your baby's language and cognitive development, concluded a new study carried out by the University of Adelaide.
International recommendations have been contradicted by the results of a new research carried out by Professor Maria Makrides, involving 2400 pregnant women in five Australian maternity hospitals, between 2005 and 2009.
During the five years of the study, half the women in the latter stages of pregnancy were given fish oil capsules, and the other half were given vegetable oil capsules.
Professor Maria Makrides, a Professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Adelaide and Deputy Director of the Women's and Children's Health Research Institute, said that there was no significant difference in the incidence of post-natal depression in mothers, nor in the neurodevelopment of their children.
The exact results show that depressive symptoms were more common among women with a previous or current diagnosis of depression, but overall, there was no difference between the two groups.
Also, there was no disparity between the 700 children from the study group, whose language and cognitive development were assessed at 18 months of age, and the control group.
Profesor Makrides concluded that the previous “recommendations to increase omega 3 fatty acids in pregnancy are being made without sound evidence.”
She explained that previous American and European recommendations were based on observational studies, who were made without any separation between social variables and the intake of fish and seafood.
“Despite the paucity of hard evidence, women are being recommended to increase their intake of fish oil fats in pregnancy and the nutritional supplement industry is successfully marketing products with fish oil, claiming they optimize brain function in both mother and infant.
“Before omega 3 supplementation in pregnancy becomes widespread, it is important to establish not only any benefits, but also any risks to mother or child,” Makrides stressed.
This study was presented in an article published today in the Journal of the American Medical Association.