This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Maternal DHA supplements may help premature infants get necessary nutrients
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
2010 Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting
VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Omega-3 fatty acid deficiency is common among very premature infants, and conditions such as gastrointestinal immaturity and other acute health problems often exacerbate malnutrition risks in these patients. But, speakers at the 2010 Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting said that mothers who breast-feed may be able to improve their infant’s health by taking docosahexaenoic acid supplements.
Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is an omega-3 fatty acid found in cold-water fatty fish and fish oil supplements. Although it is essential for growth and development, breast-feeding mothers may not consume enough of the nutrient, Isabelle Marc, MD, PhD,assistant professor in pediatrics at Laval University in Quebec, Canada explained.
Marc and colleagues from several other sites in Canada assigned mothers of 12 infants born at 28 weeks gestation who planned on breast-feeding to high-dose DHA supplements (1.2 g per day) through 39 days post-conception. They measured daily DHA intake, DHA levels in breast milk and in mother and baby plasma lipids from birth to 49-day follow-up. The researchers then compared levels in the supplement group to DHA levels among a control group of 24 very premature infants whose mothers did not receive supplements.
They found that mothers who received the supplements had DHA levels 12 times higher than those who did not. At day 49, data indicated that infants in the intervention group received 55.2 mg per kg DHA per day vs. 7.2 mg per kg per day among control group infants.
Although there was no difference in enteral feeding intake among either group of infants, those in the intervention group received about seven times more DHA than the control group, according to Marc.
“Our study has shown that supplementing mothers is a feasible and effective way of providing DHA to low birth weight premature infants," Marc said. "Our results underline the urgent need for recommendations addressing dietary DHA intake during lactation of mothers of very preterm infants to reach optimal DHA level in milk to be delivered to the baby for optimal growth and neurodevelopment, since the human milk DHA content in mothers not consuming fish during this period is most probably insufficient." – by Nicole Blazek
For more information:
- Marc I. #1355.6. Presented at: 2010 Pediatric Academic Societies Annual Meeting; May 1-5, 2010; Vancouver, B.C.
Follow
EndocrineToday.com on Twitter.