Fish oil taken by mom-to-be helps baby

London: Giving fish oil to pregnant women can help boost the babies' brain development and hand-eye coordination, a study has found.

Researchers in Australia studied 98 healthy pregnant women, divided them into two groups and gave either group four grams of fish oil supplements or four grams of olive oil supplements daily from the 20th week of their pregnancy until delivery, reported the online edition of health Magazine WebMD.

The study results showed children of mothers who took fish oil supplements scored significantly higher on tests of hand-eye coordination than those who took olive oil supplements, even after taking other factors, such as the mother's age and duration of breastfeeding, into account.

Researcher J A Dunstan, of the University of Western Australia, and colleagues also found that high levels of Omega-3 fatty acids in cord blood samples taken at birth were strongly associated with good hand-eye coordination.

There were no significant differences in overall language skills and growth between the two groups, the researchers said, writing in the journal Archives of Disease in Childhood.

The researchers say concerns about mercury content in certain types of fish have made pharmaceutical-grade fish oil supplements increasingly popular among pregnant women.

This study's results suggest that taking the supplements during the second half of pregnancy may in fact have beneficial effects on the babies' neurological development that merit further study.

Studies done earlier have shown that Omega-3 fatty acids found in certain oily fish, including salmon, may prove more useful in preventing sudden death from heart problems.