Docosahexaenoic acid supplementation (DHA) and the return on investment for pregnancy outcomes
PLEFA August 2016 Volume 111, Pages 8–10; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.plefa.2016.05.008 |
T.I. Shireman1, E.H. Kerling, B.J. Gajewski, J. Colombo, S.E. Carlson
1Present address: The Department of Health Services, Policy & Practice, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
It appears that Omega-3 reduces EARLY preterm birth while Vitamin D reduces preterm birth
Healthy pregnancies need lots of vitamin D has the following summary
Most were taking 2,000 to 7,000 IU daily for >50% of pregnancy
Click on hyperlinks for details
Problem | Vit. D Reduces | Evidence |
| 0. Chance of not conceiving | 3.4 times | Observe |
| 1. Miscarriage | 2.5 times | Observe |
| 2. Pre-eclampsia | 3.6 times | RCT |
| 3. Gestational Diabetes | 3 times | RCT |
| 4. Good 2nd trimester sleep quality | 3.5 times | Observe |
| 5. Premature birth | 2 times | RCT |
| 6. C-section - unplanned | 1.6 times | Observe |
| Stillbirth - OMEGA-3 | 4 times | RCT - Omega-3 |
| 7. Depression AFTER pregnancy | 1.4 times | RCT |
| 8. Small for Gestational Age | 1.6 times | meta-analysis |
| 9. Infant height, weight, head size within normal limits | RCT | |
| 10. Childhood Wheezing | 1.3 times | RCT |
| 11. Additional child is Autistic | 4 times | Intervention |
| 12.Young adult Multiple Sclerosis | 1.9 times | Observe |
| 13. Preeclampsia in young adult | 3.5 times | RCT |
| 14. Good motor skills @ age 3 | 1.4 times | Observe |
| 15. Childhood Mite allergy | 5 times | RCT |
| 16. Childhood Respiratory Tract visits | 2.5 times | RCT |
RCT = Randomized Controlled Trial
Also: Omega-3 Reduces Stillbirth 3 times RCT
The items in Pregnancy and Omega-3 are listed here:
- Consensus: Vitamin D is the most needed supplement before, during, and after pregnancy - Jan 2025
- Intestinal permeability during pregnancy - maintained by Vitamin D, Omega-3, etc. - March 2025
- Should Omega-3 be mandatory in Pregnancy (yes) – July 2024
- Vitamin D and Omega-3 benefits to pregnancy and infants
- Omega-3 fatty acid in pregnancy reduces risk of preterm and early preterm birth – Feb 2024
- Omega-3 fatty acid in pregnancy reduces risk of preterm and early preterm birth – Feb 2024
- Stillbirth reduced by Vitamin D, Zinc, Omega-3 - several studies
- Preterm birth decreased by Omega-3, etc. - many studies
- Preterm birth reduction by nutrients - Vitamin D is the best, Omega-3 is next best – May 2022
- Omega-3 improves pregnancies – Meta-analysis May 2022
- Omega-3 supplementation reduced preterm birth rate by 4X – RCT July 2020
- Conception 1.5 X more likely if taking any amount of Omega-3 – Feb 2022
- Pre-term birth rate cut in half with 1000 milligrams of Omega-3 (if initially low) – RCT May 2021
- Omega-3 recommended in Australia during pregnancy - April 2021
- Pregnancy recommendations – huge differences in Vitamin D, Mg, iron, Iodine, DHA, etc – April 2021
- Seafood (Omega-3) during pregnancy increased childhood IQ by 8 points – review Dec 2019
- Pregnant women in Australia to take Omega-3 when told of reduction in preterm births – Dec 2019
- Fat-soluble vitamins critical for conception, pregnancy and breast feeding (pigs) – Sept 2019
- Preterm Births reduced by Omega-3, Zinc, and Vitamin D – Aug 2019
- Depression after childbirth 5 X less likely if good Omega-3 index – April 2019
- Infant Problem-Solving Skills Linked to Mother’s DHA Omega-3 Level During Pregnancy – April 2019
- Omega-3 during pregnancy and breastfeeding is recommended – May 2019
- Preterm Births decreased by Omega-3 (analysis of 184 countries) – April 2019
- Preterm Births - promising preventions – anti-oxidants, Vitamin D, Omega-3, Zinc, etc. – Jan 2019
- Preterm birth might be prevented by Vitamin D, Omega-3, etc. (International survey) – Jan 2019
- Omega-3 index of 5 greatly decreases the risk of an early preterm birth – Dec 2018
- Omega-3 added during pregnancy helps in many ways – Cochrane Review of RCTs Nov 2018
- Omega-3 helps conception as well as pregnancy – many studies
- More pregnancies and fewer abortions when Omega-3 was added (cows in this case) July 2018
- PCOS treated by a combination of Vitamin D and Omega-3 – RCT Oct 2018
- Omega-3 – fewer than 5 percent of adult women get the RDA – April 2018
- Omega-3, Vitamin D, Folic acid etc. during pregnancy and subsequent mental illness of child – March 2018
- Supplementation while pregnant and psychotic – 20 percent Omega-3, 6 percent Vitamin D – June 2016
- Importance of Vitamin D and fish rarely mentioned during midwife-led prenatal booking visits – July 2017
- Preterm birth rate of pregnant smokers cut in half if take Omega-3 – RCT May 2017
- Gestational diabetes treated by Vitamin D plus Omega-3 – RCT Feb 2017
- Asthma reduced 31 percent when Omega-3 taken during pregnancy – RCT Dec 2016
- Preterm births strongly related to Vitamin D, Vitamin D Receptor, Iodine, Omega-3, etc
- Typical pregnancy is now 39 weeks – Omega-3 and Vitamin D might restore it to full 40 weeks
- Omega-3 supplementation during pregnancy reduce early preterm births (save 1500 USD per child) – Aug 2016
- Rancid Omega-3 increased the odds of newborn mortality by 13 times (rats) – July 2016
- Preterm birth extended by 2 weeks with Omega-3 – Meta-analysis Nov 2015
- Stillbirth rate typically 1 in 200, perhaps only 1 in 800 with Omega-3
- Omega-3 helps pregnancy in many ways: preterm 26 percent less likely etc – review July 2012
- Pregnancy and infants healthier with Omega-3 supplementation - many studies
- Vitamin D, DHA, Folic, Iodine benefits during pregnancy – July 2012
Highlights
•Early preterm birth (ePTB) occurs before 34 weeks gestation.
•ePTB cost the US approximately USD 10.6 Billion in 2014.
•Public policy effort to increase DHA intake of pregnant women is important.
The Kansas University DHA Outcomes Study (KUDOS) found a significant reduction in early preterm births with a supplement of 600 mg DHA per day compared to placebo. The objective of this analysis was to determine if hospital costs differed between groups. We applied a post-hoc cost analysis of the delivery hospitalization and all hospitalizations in the following year to 197 mother-infant dyads who delivered at Kansas University Hospital. Hospital cost saving of DHA supplementation amounted to $1678 per infant. Even after adjusting for the estimated cost of providing 600 mg/d DHA for 26 weeks ($166.48) and a slightly higher maternal care cost ($26) in the DHA group, the net saving per dyad was $1484. Extrapolating this to the nearly 4 million US deliveries per year suggests universal supplementation with 600 mg/d during the last 2 trimesters of pregnancy could save the US health care system up to USD 6 billion.
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Also reported at Nutragredients save US $6 billion annually
58% reduction in early preterm birth: reduce costs from $10 billion to $4 billion