The effectiveness and role of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has been proved by numerous clinical studies. The polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) during pregnancy or early postpartum period have been found to have beneficial effects on duration of gestation . A randomized, double-blind, controlled, clinical trial was conducted to determine the effects of increasing DHA intake during the third trimester of pregnancy on overall pregnancy and birth outcomes. The figure depicts the study design and the observations made.
Based on the study outcomes, the following observations were made:
Infant but not maternal red blood cell (RBC) phospholipid DHA increased significantly in the high DHA group.
High-DHA group had a significant increase in duration of gestation of 6.0 ± 2.3 days compared with the ordinary DHA group (276.5 days vs. 270.5 days, p=0.009).
Infants in the DHA supplemented group were significantly longer at delivery (p=0.048) and had a trend toward larger head circumference (p=0.081).
Duration of gestation increased significantly when docosahexaenoic acid intake was increased during the last trimester of pregnancy.
The increase in gestation was similar to that of previously reported interventions with much larger amounts of n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids
Smuts CM, Huang M, Mundy D et al. A randomized trial of docosahexaenoic acid supplementation during the third trimester of pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol. 2003;101(3):469-479..
