EXPECTANT mothers who up their omega-3 intake are less likely to have a premature baby, according to a new Cochrane review.
The data shows researchers' findings support advice that women can begin taking a daily dose of omega-3 at the 12-week stage of pregnancy.
"This is an extremely promising finding because we now have strong evidence that omega-3 supplements are a simple and cost-effective intervention to prevent premature birth," says researcher Professor Maria Makrides of the SA Health and Medical Research Institute.
The review includes 70 randomised controlled trials covering almost 20,000 women, mostly comparing supplementation with either placebo or usual care.
Increasing the daily intake of omega-3 acids during pregnancy lowers the risk of having a baby before 37 weeks by 11%, from 134 per 1,000 to 119 per 1,000 births.
Significantly, the data also shows it lowers the relative risk of having a premature baby (before 34 weeks) by 42%, from 46 per 1,000 to 27 per 1,000 births.
Most of the trials use omega-3 supplements containing docosahexaenoic acid and eicosapentaenoic acid rather than dietary changes.
Researchers from the institute, along with those from the Adelaide Women's and Children's Hospital and the University of Adelaide, carried out the Cochrane review.
Supplement dosing needs to contain between 500mg and 1.000mg of omega-3, with at least 500mg of docosahexaenoic acid, researchers say.
Visit cochranelibrary.com.
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