When my sister was pregnant many women advised us, to include fish oil in her diet, as fish oil was considered to cure post natal depression. Fish oil – good to treat post-natal depression? I wondered how much of this statement was true, since scientific studies and research were still to prove this statement to be true! However, I chose not to contradict the beliefs of so many experienced ladies and encouraged my sister to have her regular dose of fish oil.

After my nephew was born – my sister did have to pass through the common depressive state, which slowly disappeared with time. In spite of having fish oil for so many days, nothing seemed to have worked. We all realized that so many capsules which were taken by her during her phase of pregnancy actually did not serve the purpose or was it that such a post natal depression is completely unavoidable? I chose not to bring the issue further in my family, until I came across this piece of information, which I believe should be shared with all ladies, who still believe that fish oil plays an important role to cure post natal depression.

Here is some information for all those ladies who have a strong belief that fish oil capsules help to cure post natal depression.

Professor Maria Makrides who is an eminent Professor associated with Human Nutrition at the University of Adelaide and also Deputy Director of the Women's and Children's Health Research Institute believes that recent results often contradict the existing recommendation, that these fish capsules taken by women during pregnancy, help in the newborn’s cognitive development and the language skills of the newborn.

A five year study was undertaken on women where they were divided in two categorizes for the purpose of research. One section of ladies were given these fish oil capsules while the other section of ladies were given the vegetable oil capsules. The ladies were taken care of well during the period and both categorizes of women were offered a healthy diet during this diet phase. After the safe delivery of their babies, it was observed that there was no prominent noticeable difference in the post natal depression or even the neuro developmental outcomes of babies. This study was enough to prove that there was actually no connection between post natal depression and the use of fish oil in daily diet.

Despite these statistics, women are still recommended the intake of fish oil during their pregnancy period. You can suggest fish oil to women as a part of nutritional supplement during pregnancy, but remember that this oil has no connection with post natal depression of women. There are several products from different companies which claim that fish oil helps to optimize the brain function of the baby as well as the mother. These facts are still to be proven true – so, next time before you suggest the intake of fish oil capsules to any lady, remember that it has nothing to do with post natal depression. 

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