Pregnancy :: Nursing & pregnant women should eat 12 ounces of fish

Health experts recommended that women who want to become pregnant, are pregnant or are breastfeeding should eat a minimum of 12 ounces per week of fish like salmon, tuna, sardines and mackerel, and can do so safely.

A Maternal Nutrition Group comprised of top professors of obstetrics and doctors of nutrition, in partnership with the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB), unveiled recommendations for seafood consumption during pregnancy.

The Group found that eating fish is the optimal way to gain the benefits of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA). Seafood is the richest dietary source of DHA and EPA in Americans’ diets. The Group also recognized that selenium, an essential mineral found in certain ocean fish, accumulates and appears to protect against the toxicity from trace amounts of mercury.

“We know from our research that pregnant women are concerned about eating seafood and hope that our science-based recommendations will give women who are pregnant, nursing or planning to become pregnant, the confidence that they are doing the right thing for their health — and the health of their children — by including fish in their diets,” said Dr. Roger Newman, Maternal Nutrition Group member, Professor and Vice Chairman for Academic Affairs & Women’s Health Research Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Medical University of South Carolina.

The National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB) is the only coalition dedicated solely to improving maternal and child health.


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