DHA and Pregnancy
Prior and throughout pregnancy, nutrition plays a major role not only in your health as an expectant mother, but also in the health of your unborn baby.
Years ago, a healthy pregnancy meant following a diet rich in essential perinatal nutrients such as folic acid and calcium. But the latest science demands another important nutrient be added to that diet: DHA, docosahexaenoic acid, an omega-3 fatty acid.
DHA is brain nutrition. It's to our brains as calcium is to our bones. In fact, optimal infant brain and eye development and function depends on it.*
Throughout life, we all need DHA – it's one of the good fats in our bodies. Its job is to go straight to the tissues, like those in the brain, to keep them functioning to the best of their ability.
On average, pregnant and nursing women in the U.S. consume 60-80 mg of DHA a day, from food and drink, which is only 20-25% of the recommended intake.* That's why DHA is one of the most important supplements for pregnancy.
While you have to wait to see if your baby will have your nose or eyes, you can know ahead of time you've given your baby every benefit when it comes to brain development.
Major brain growth occurs during the second trimester of pregnancy – and throughout the first two years of life – so these are when the need for DHA is greatest.
However, like you, your unborn baby can't efficiently produce DHA and must rely on the placenta during pregnancy, and breast milk or DHA-enriched formula after birth. When you take a DHA supplement during pregnancy and nursing, it significantly enhances the level of DHA available to your baby in and out of the womb.
In fact, studies show maternal DHA supplementation resulted in mental development advantages in children including improved psychomotor development (such as eye-hand coordination) at 2.5 years of age and improved attention skills at 5 years of age. (View the clinical research.)
- If you begin prenatal supplementation when you start trying to become pregnant, continue through pregnancy and while breast feeding, you can ensure your baby will get the essential nutrition necessary from the beginning.
- DHA can help keep your pregnancy healthy, and aid in the healthy development of your baby's brain and eyes.*