Eleanor Bimla Schwarz, MD, MS

Four-year-olds whose mothers took prenatal DHA supplements had normal cognitive function.

Some clinicians recommend that pregnant women take docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplements to improve fetal brain development. To assess the effects of a daily 800-mg DHA prenatal supplement, Australian investigators conducted a randomized, controlled trial involving 726 pregnant women and their offspring. At 18 months, no significant between-group differences were noted in the children's cognitive scores (NEJM JW Psychiatry Nov 15 2010).

At the 4-year follow-up, objective assessments of cognition and language also were similar between groups, even after adjustment for study site, child's sex, maternal education, parity, and smoking.

Citation(s):

Makrides M et al. Four-year follow-up of children born to women in a randomized trial of prenatal DHA supplementation. JAMA 2014 May 7; 311:1802.