None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Research findings indicate that pregnant women should increase their intake of oily fish before, during and after pregnancy and that they should breastfeed. Despite this advice, no direct evidence exists that increased oily fish intake during pregnancy is beneficial to birth outcomes. In addition the possible effectiveness of personalised dietary advice given to women antenatally has been little-investigated. The nutritional advice approach differs from that of fish oil supplementation as eating fish is a dietary choice and oily fish may have effects differing from those of supplementation because of the many nutrients present in addition to omega-3 fatty acids. In an study carried out at Whipps Cross Hospital by Dr Michel Odent a single discussion session was held at or before 20 weeks gestation, at which stage of pregnancy, the brain growth spurt and rapid endothelial growth begin, that focused on an increased intake of oily fish and a reduced intake of trans-fatty acids. Trends to greater birthweight, head circumference, body length and to a lower incidence of low birthweight were observed. Thus the effect of giving advice to pregnant women to increase intake of oily fish was sufficiently positive to indicate the value of further study. Controlled prospective studies exploring the effect of encouraging consumption of oily fish and a reduction in the intake of trans-fatty acids have not been carried out. The benefits of improving maternal nutrition before and during pregnancy and throughout lactation are many. The health of the baby is dependent on maternal nutrition and there is evidence to suggest that small birth size is a major contributor to the cause of adult disease, including hypertension, coronary heart disease, type II diabetes and renal disease. Treating and caring for people with coronary heart disease costs Britain about £7billion each year, according to the British Heart Foundation, and the cost of caring for patients with type II diabetes is estimated by Diabetes UK to be £3.5billion annually. There are clear public health benefits in reducing the incidence of low birthweight and consequently the prevalence of these debilitating and costly diseases. It is hypothesised that a one-to-one informal discussion with pregnant women before 20 weeks gestation, emphasising the benefits to mother and fetus of oily fish consumption, will result in improved birth outcomes.
Interventions
One informal one-to-one discussion of 15 - 20 minutes, between the researcher and pregnant women at 20 or fewer weeks gestation, covering lifestyle and diet, in which the benefits of eating fish, especially oily fish, were emphasised. The interviewees were all attending antenatal clinic at a UK hospital for the first time in that pregnancy and had no apparent complications of this pregnancy to date. The intervention was in addition to the standard antenatal care offerd by the hospital clinic.
Sponsors
The Seafish Industry Authority
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Blinded (masking used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Women up to and including 20 weeks gestation, making their first visit to the antenatal clinic in their current pregnancy
Exclusion criteria
Patients under 18 years old unless accompained by a responsible adult who could sign consent Epileptics Women with a recent psychiatric history Patients taking part in existing studies, where inclusion may adversely affect either project Women with a poor obstetric or medical history Known drug users Non-English speaking women if a translator was not available
Outcome results
None listed