According to a new study to be presented at this week’s Experimental Biology conference in Washington, D.C., consuming DHA omega 3 during pregnancy may reduce the risk of postpartum depression.
 
Dr. Michelle Price Judge, a faculty member at the University of Connecticut School of Nursing, is keenly interested in how omega 3 fatty acids consumed during pregnancy impact both maternal and infant health. She has demonstrated previously that maternal consumption of DHA during pregnancy gives infants a developmental advantage, even 9 months after they are born. These findings prompted her to consider the benefits that DHA could holistically have on the maternal-infant dyad. Specifically, might greater omega 3 fatty acid intake during pregnancy lower risk for postpartum depression, a condition that leads to a multitude of problems, including interruptions in maternal-infant attachment and subsequent impairments in later infant development?
 
To answer this question, Dr. Judge oversaw a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled dietary intervention trial in which 52 pregnant women took either a placebo (corn oil) or a fish oil capsule containing 300 milligrams of DHA 5 days each week from 24-40 weeks of pregnancy. This is the amount a woman would consume if she ate about ½ serving of salmon. It is noteworthy that dietary DHA intake during pregnancy has been estimated to be 50-70 milligrams of DHA daily—a mere fraction of the 200 milligrams daily that is considered optimal during pregnancy by most experts.
 
Using the Postpartum Depression Screening Scale developed by her colleague and coauthor Dr. Cheryl Beck, Dr. Judge was able to categorize postpartum women as having negligible depressive symptoms, significant symptoms of postpartum depression, or being “positive” for this condition. The Postpartum Depression Screening Scale also assisted the research team in discerning between several symptoms specific to the disorder, including sleeping/eating disturbances, anxiety, emotional liability, confusion, loss of self, guilt, and thoughts of suicide.
 
Although the study did not have enough women to investigate if fish oil consumption resulted in a lower incidence of diagnosable postpartum depression, women in the treatment group had significantly lower total Postpartum Depression Screening Scale scores, with significantly fewer symptoms common to postpartum depression. For example, compared to those in the control group, women in the fish oil group were less likely to report symptoms related to anxiety and loss of self.
 
Dr. Judge and coworkers concluded: “DHA consumption during pregnancy—at levels that are reasonably attained from foods—has the potential to decrease symptoms of postpartum depression.”