Prenatal DHA Pills May Reduce Sniffles

Taking DHA supplements during pregnancy may help your baby fend off colds, a new study suggests. DHA stands for docosahexaenoic acid. It’s one of the omega 3 fatty acids found in fish oil and some other foods. The study included more than 1,000 pregnant women. They were randomly assigned to receive either DHA pills or placebo (fake) pills. After the babies were born, they were asked to keep diaries about any symptoms of illness the babies had. They filled out questionnaires about their babies’ health at ages 1, 3 and 6 months. Babies whose mothers took DHA were 24% less likely to have a combination of cold symptoms at 1 month of age than babies from the other group. Their cold symptoms also were shorter at 1 and 3 months of age. At 6 months, they had fever, runny nose and breathing problems for a shorter time than those whose mothers got the placebo.