Fishing for the answer to prevent preterm birth

Pregnancy is one of the most exciting and momentous times in the lives of many women. For most mothers-to-be this time marks an increased awareness of the importance of a healthy diet to give their baby the best start before coming into the world.

Recent research from the Women’s and Children’s Health Research Institute, and the SAHMRI Healthy Mothers, Babies and Children Theme suggests that fish oil rich in the omega 3 fat, DHA may help to maintain a pregnancy to full term. Most infants are born at term (around 40 weeks of pregnancy) but about 1 in 12 babies are born too soon often without any warning signs. There are many risks to the baby of being born too soon such as lung disease, development delay and in some cases even death. Therefore it is important that we find ways to prevent babies from being born too soon.

We have been funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council to recruit over 5,500 pregnant women, less than 20 weeks’ gestation, to answer the question of whether DHA supplements in pregnancy reduce the number of early premature births and improve the health of the new baby. 

If you are less than 20 weeks pregnant and would like to join the largest study worldwide investigating whether this simple nutritional supplementation can reduce early preterm births please contact us for more information. You can call us on 08 8161 8045 or email us on hmbc@sahmri.com.