That tuna sandwich may be more beneficial than you realise if you're expecting a baby. Eating fish in pregnancy greatly reduces the risk of premature birth and underweight babies, according to a new study of over 8,000 Danish women. The authors of the study, from the Maternal Nutrition Group at the Danish Epidemiology Science Centre and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Skejby University Hospital in Denmark, invited all pregnant women receiving routine ante-natal care in Aarhus, on the east coast, to complete questionnaires in weeks 16 and 30 of pregnancy.
In Denmark, fish is eaten mainly as part of a hot meal, in an open sandwich, or cold in a green salad or pasta salad. The women were asked how often they had eaten fish in these ways, and also taken fish oil as a supplement, since the time they first knew they were pregnant. Seafood such as prawns, crab, roes and mussels could be included. Of the 8,998 women returning the 16th week questionnaire, 8,729 had not consumed fish oil supplements, and the results of the study refer to this restricted group.
It was found that the occurrence of premature births differed significantly with the amount of fish and seafood the women ate. Pre-term deliveries in the group who never ate fish was 7.1 per cent, falling to 1.9 per cent in those who ate fish as a hot meal and an open sandwich at least once a week. Overall, the average weight of the babies and the length of gestation tended to increase with increasing fish consumption up to a daily intake of 15g of fish. These findings support earlier research on the beneficial effects of fish on healthy pregnancy and outcome - mothers in the fish eating community of the Faroe Islands, for example, have long been observed to have big babies - and the authors suggest that for pregnant women with little intake of fish, small amounts of n-3 fatty acids, provided as fish or fish oil, may protect against premature delivery and low birth weight.
- Read the paper in the British Medical Journal on http://press.psprings.co.uk/bmj/february/ppr447.pdf
