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Prenatal supplements in the postpartum period are effective in increasing breast milk docosahexaenoic acid (DHA, 22:6n3) concentration
Author(s) -
Durham Holiday A,
Salguero Julissa,
Gilbert Emily,
Page Alicia,
Tulley Richard T,
LammiKeefe Carol J
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.24.1_supplement.556.3
Subject(s) - docosahexaenoic acid , fish oil , breast milk , medicine , breastfeeding , pregnancy , fish <actinopterygii> , postpartum period , obstetrics , polyunsaturated fatty acid , fatty acid , pediatrics , biology , biochemistry , fishery , genetics
DHA is important for neonatal vision, cognition and neurodevelopment. DHA/fish oil supplementation studies previously demonstrated that breastmilk DHA can be increased. Many pregnant women are currently prescribed prenatal supplements that contain DHA or fish oil. Of these, some continue to supplement while breastfeeding. Our objective was to determine if commercially available supplements containing DHA/fish oil (mean= 281 mg, range= 144–532 mg) could impact breast milk DHA content. We assessed breast milk DHA concentrations at 2, 6, 10 and 12 weeks postpartum among women taking a DHA/fish oil supplement (S) and those not supplementing (NON) (n=12). All women were exclusively breastfeeding. Milk FA methyl esters were quantitated with gas chromatography. Women not consuming DHA/fish oil supplement had lower breast milk DHA wt % at 10 and 12 weeks postpartum than those supplementing; at weeks 2 and 6 there were no differences between groups (least square mean (SE)), 2 wks: S, 0.52 (0.08); Non, 0.36 (0.07), p = 0.22; 6 wks: S, 0.49 (0.07); Non 0.31 (0.07), p = 0.40; 10 wks: S, 0.76 (0.07); Non, 0.32 (0.07), p <0.01; 12 wks: S, 0.56 (0.09); Non, 0.25 (0.07), p = 0.05). Women should be encouraged to continue their prenatal supplements if they breastfeed and clinicians should be encouraged to prescribe the prenatal supplements that contain DHA/fish oil. Supported in part by LSU AgCenter and National Fisheries Institute.