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Mercy ob/gyn Dr. Jennifer Taylor

Mercy OB/GYN Dr. Jennifer Taylor Discusses Fish, Fish Oil And Pregnancy On WBAL-TV11's "Woman's Doctor"

Fish oil and omega-3 fatty acids have been touted for heart health, better cholesterol, good skin and hair and joint problems, but some doctors said they can also help a child develop during pregnancy.

According to Mercy ob/gyn Dr. Jennifer Taylor, the omega-3 fatty acids and Docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, found in fish oil and fish are important to infant and fetal brain development.

"At the same time, doctors are counseling their patients to limit servings of seafood to one to two servings a week," she said.

That's because of mercury, which can be toxic in pregnancy. But she said pregnant women should definitely get omega-3's.

"They definitely should, and many of the prenatal vitamins today contain some sort of fish oil," Dr. Taylor added.

Farrah Mirabile, 31, is expecting her first baby in mid-February.

"A couple of times, I visited labor and delivery for contractions. They had to stop them, but the last few weeks, I've been doing pretty well," she said.

Mirabile said she is religious about taking her prenatal vitamins and fish oil.

It's important to get a high-quality fish oil that screens out any metals or contaminants through a process called molecular distillation. Products that do that should say so on the bottle.

A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association didn't find a difference in postpartum depression levels or the intelligence of babies born of women who did take fish oil.

To view Dr. Taylor's interview with WBAL, click this link: http://www.wbaltv.com/womansdoctor/26598530/detail.html