Don't Forgo Fish While Expecting
Health experts point to 'safer' fish as a smarter option

(HealthDay News) -- Worried about the possibility of mercury contamination, many women have decided to stay away from fish entirely while they're pregnant.

But doing so might shortchange the growing fetus, as well as the woman herself, of omega-3 fatty acids, which are vital for good health.

"Fish is an important part of a well-balanced diet during pregnancy," Dr. Ashley S. Roman, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at New York University Medical Center and a member of the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition, told HealthDay .

"There is scientific evidence that fish leads to better outcomes in babies," Roman said. "It leads to better brain development, improved cognitive and motor skills, and some evidence suggests that it might reduce the risk of premature delivery and postpartum depression."

"Studies have shown that if you eat 12 ounces or more fish per week, you are doing better for your baby than if you eat less than that amount or no fish at all," she said.

However, the U.S. government issued a warning in 2001 about potential mercury contamination of fish and advised pregnant women to eat no more than 12 ounces of fish each week.

"We found that the FDA/EPA advisory was scaring a large number of women away from eating any fish," said Roman.

The American Pregnancy Association's recommendation represents a bit of a compromise. It suggests that women continue eating fish while pregnant but that they avoid or limit intake of certain types of fish:

• Avoid those that contain the highest levels of mercury contamination, including grouper, marlin, orange roughy, tilefish, swordfish, shark and king mackerel.
• Limit to no more than three six-ounce servings a month those that might contain high levels of mercury, including saltwater bass, croaker, halibut, tuna (canned white albacore), fresh bluefin ahi tuna, sea trout, bluefish and lobster ( Maine or American).
• Limit to no more than six 6-ounce servings a month those with lower levels of mercury, including carp, mahi mahi, Dungeness crab, snapper, blue crab, herring, snow crab, monk fish, freshwater perch, skate, cod, tuna (canned chunk light) and fresh Pacific albacore tuna.
• Consume up to two 6-ounce servings a week of those that have the lowest levels of mercury, including anchovies, butterfish, calamari, caviar (farmed), king crab, pollock, catfish, whitefish, ocean perch, scallops, flounder, haddock, hake, herring, spiny/rock lobster, shad, sole, crawfish, crayfish, salmon, shrimp, clams, tilapia, oysters, sardines, farmed sturgeon and freshwater trout.

Roman noted that selenium, a mineral found in some ocean fish, appears to protect against the harmful effects of mercury. "You have to look at fish as a whole, not at just one element in fish," she said.

Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, an assistant professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, said that he agreed with Roman's recommendations.

"The evidence for the benefits of omega-3 fatty acids in neuron development is at least as strong as the evidence for harm from mercury," said Mozaffarian, who co-authored a 2006 study that endorsed fish consumption. "Not getting enough omega-3 fatty acids is dangerous in itself."

On the Web

Learn more about fish and pregnancy from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

SOURCES: HealthDay News ; Ashley S. Roman, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, New York University Medical Center, New York City; Dariush Mozaffarian, M.D., Dr.PH., assistant professor of medicine and epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston; National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition news conference, Oct. 4, 2007, National Press Club, Washington, D.C.; American Pregnancy Association (www.pregnancy.org)
Author: Serena Gordon
Publication Date: Oct. 31, 2008
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