A new study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition lends support to the claim that supplementing with DHA in pregnancy helps with optimal pregnancy outcomes. Earlier research on the benefits of DHA supplementation in pregnancy has shown that it plays a substantial role in fetal and infant brain development, increasing IQ scores, lengthening attention spans, and enhancing fetal and infant eye development. I wrote about the many benefits of DHA supplementation during pregnancy, and what DHA is, in a past blog post.

The new study concluded that supplementing with 600mg/day in the last half pregnancy resulted in:

– longer gestations

– bigger babies

– fewer preterm births

Not only does DHA prevent preterm and low-birth weight babies (which addresses an important public healthcare concern) it also helps make smart babies and prevents against postpartum depression.