Fish oils in pregnancy

[Rachey1969]

Vita West, the pregnancy nutrition guru, suggests taking fish oils, particularly in weeks 27-40 for eye/brain development.

I am a skinflint and bought some from Tesco (rather than £12 ones specially for pregnancy in Boots). Is there an optimum dose? Can you overdose? It's only oil, isn't it?

Thanks

Good question. I was wondering this myself as I was DS his fish oil last night.

The dose on mine, seems quite different from the mamacare ones (more of one oil and less of another) but they say 'if you are pregnant, consult your doctor' - is this necessary?

I think if you are pregnant you have to watch the amount of Vit A you take and a lot of these fish oils have large amounts of vit A in them (but I'm not a doctor so probably best to ask someone in the know!)

Is that right? I hadn't thought of that but it would be helpful if they said that on the box! These are omega 3 fish oils (one a day) 1000gfish oils providing 180mg EPA and 120mg DHA.

it should say on the box if it is vit A in it as well (what I meant is a lot of manufacturers put the vit D and A in with the fish oils - they have to put that on the box but it's not advertised, you'd have to check the ingredients to know it was in there)

I'm not explaining this well am I - I think some have added vit A (which should say on the box if you look) and some don't!!

As for the 'consult a doctor' bit, I think it says that on most supplements.

Thanks foxinsocks! It doesn't say anything about vit A on the box though...

fishliver oils contain vitamin A, but fish oils don't.

You do need to get a good quality one though otherwise you will be ingesting a load of merucry with it.

I wouldn't take a supermarket cheapo brand whilst pregant- you need one that states mercury has been removed blah blah.

Oh blimey, this is getting more complicated! Do I need to know which fish they came from?!

IS Eye Q OK? I cant see anywhere on the bottle that says the mecury has been removed.

I'm sure your tesco ones will be absolutely fine. I take Mumomega from Boots. IQ is also a good brand. Excellent for your unborn baby and for you and helps prevent Post natal depression too.

If it's not cod liver oil then it's fine re vitamin A. If it was high in vit A it would say so on the box.

I think it's worth taking one designed for pregnancy because of the Vit A and mercury risks. Equazen do one - available off their website or from Boots.

But sorry; they are quite shockingly expensive compared to Tesco ones.

Alternatively, you could up your intake of the right fish. There was a newspaper report this week saying the safest and best are things like sardines. (Can't bear them - am bankrupting myself with Equazen.)

Its alot cheaper to try and increase your intake of omega 3 oils through diet rather than capsules. Best dietary sources are salmon, anchovies, sardines, mackerel and trout. Also tofu, soy, walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, linseed and rapeseed. You can get eggs and bread with added omega 3s as well.

i take mumomega from boots - i think they are £12 for a month's supply.

before i was pregnant i took solgar fish oils and my health guru told me to stop taking them because there was too much Vitamin A for pregnancy - if i were you, i really would take specific pregnancy-designed vits, better safe than sorry. if the cost is too prohibitive it may be better to eat sardines, mackerel, poached salmon etc. three portions a week.

Thanks for all the advice, I think I'd better buy some mumomega and save the cheapies for post-natal!