Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation in pregnancy-baseline omega-3 status and early preterm birth: exploratory analysis of a randomised controlled trial
BJOG . 2020 Jul;127(8):975-981. doi: 10.1111/1471-0528.16168
L A Simmonds 1, T R Sullivan 1, M Skubisz 1 2, P F Middleton 1 3, K P Best 1 3, L N Yelland 1 4, J Quinlivan 5, S J Zhou 6, G Liu 1 6, A J McPhee 1 7, R A Gibson 1 6, M Makrides 1 3
Objective: To identify a polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) biomarker able to detect which women with singleton pregnancies are most likely to benefit from omega-3 supplementation to reduce their risk of early preterm birth.
Design: Exploratory analysis of a randomised controlled trial.
Setting: Six Australian hospitals.
Population: Women with a singleton pregnancy enrolled in the ORIP trial.
Methods: Using maternal capillary whole blood collected ~14 weeks' gestation, the fatty acids in total blood lipids were quantified using gas chromatography. Interaction tests examined whether baseline PUFA status modified the effect of omega-3 supplementation on birth outcomes.
Main outcome measure: Early preterm birth (<34 weeks' gestation).
Results: A low total omega-3 PUFA status in early pregnancy was associated with a higher risk of early preterm birth. Among women with a total omega-3 status ≤4.1% of total fatty acids, omega-3 supplementation substantially reduced the risk of early preterm birth compared with control (0.73 versus 3.16%; relative risk = 0.23, 95% confidence interval CI 0.07-0.79). Conversely, women with higher total omega-3 status in early pregnancy were at lower risk of early preterm birth. Supplementing women with a baseline status above 4.9% increased early preterm birth (2.20 versus 0.97%; relative risk = 2.27, 95% CI 1.13-4.58).
Conclusions: Women with singleton pregnancies and low total omega-3 PUFA status early in pregnancy have an increased risk of early preterm birth and are most likely to benefit from omega-3 supplementation to reduce this risk. Women with higher total omega-3 status are at lower risk and additional omega-3 supplementation may increase their risk.
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Vitamin D Life Omega-3 pages with PRETERM or PRE-TERM in title (13 as of Oct 2022)
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Items found: 16
| Title | | Modified |
| Omega-3 supplementation reduced preterm birth rate by 4X – RCT July 2020 | | 21 Oct, 2022 |
| Preterm birth decreased by Omege-3, etc. - many studies | | 21 Oct, 2022 |
| Preterm birth might be prevented by Vitamin D, Omega-3, etc. (International survey) – Jan 2019 | | 15 May, 2022 |
| Preterm Births - promising preventions – anti-oxidants, Vitamin D, Omega-3, Zinc, etc. – Jan 2019 | | 15 May, 2022 |
| Preterm birth reduction by nutrients - Vitamin D is the best, Omega-3 is next best – May 2022 | | 15 May, 2022 |
| Preterm birth rate of pregnant smokers cut in half if take Omega-3 – RCT May 2017 | | 20 Feb, 2022 |
| Pre-term birth rate cut in half with 1000 milligrams of Omega-3 (if initially low) – RCT May 2021 | | 04 Jun, 2021 |
| Pregnant women in Australia to take Omega-3 when told of reduction in preterm births – Dec 2019 | | 19 Nov, 2019 |
| Preterm Births reduced by Omega-3, Zinc, and Vitamin D – Aug 2019 | | 09 Aug, 2019 |
| Preterm Births decreased by Omega-3 (analysis of 184 countries) – April 2019 | | 27 Apr, 2019 |
| Omega-3 index of 5 greatly decreases the risk of an early preterm birth – Dec 2018 | | 04 Jan, 2019 |
| Increasing Omega-3 reduces heart problems, autism, depression, preterm birth, breast cancer, etc. | | 15 Dec, 2017 |
| Preterm births strongly related to Vitamin D, Vitamin D Receptor, Iodine, Omega-3, etc | | 13 Nov, 2017 |
| Preterm birth extended by 2 weeks with Omega-3 – Meta-analysis Nov 2015 | | 10 Dec, 2016 |
| Omega-3 supplementation during pregnancy reduce early preterm births (save 1500 USD per child) – Aug 2016 | | 12 Oct, 2016 |
| Omega-3 helps pregnancy in many ways: preterm 26 percent less likely etc – review July 2012 | | 08 Sep, 2015 |
Vitamin D Life Pregnancy pages with PRETERM of PRE-TERM in title (61 as of May 2022)
This list is automatically updated
Items found: 66
| Title | | Modified |
| Preterm birth rate increased in US but decreased in Finland (high Vitamin D) - Jan 2024 | | 09 Feb, 2024 |
| Preterm birth chance reduced –17P (expensive drug) or Vitamin D – June 2015 | | 01 Jan, 2024 |
| Preterm birth and low Vitamin D - many studies | | 24 Dec, 2023 |
| Preterm births are VERY costly – Feb 2017 | | 24 Dec, 2023 |
| Preterm birth cost for employers approximately 50,000 dollars – Oct 2017 | | 24 Dec, 2023 |
| Preterm Birth 2.7X more likely if low vitamin D (dark skin in this case) - Nov 2023 | | 01 Nov, 2023 |
| 4.4 X more likely to have a preterm birth if low vitamin D while pregnant (India) - May 2022 | | 01 Nov, 2023 |
| Omega-3 supplementation reduced preterm birth rate by 4X – RCT July 2020 | | 21 Oct, 2022 |
| Preterm birth decreased by Omege-3, etc. - many studies | | 21 Oct, 2022 |
| Arab preterm infants often have less than 10 ng of vitamin D - 2010 | | 15 May, 2022 |
| Preterm birth interventions – 4 studies found possible vitamin D benefit – Cochrane – Nov 2018 | | 15 May, 2022 |
| Preterm birth might be prevented by Vitamin D, Omega-3, etc. (International survey) – Jan 2019 | | 15 May, 2022 |
| Preterm Births - promising preventions – anti-oxidants, Vitamin D, Omega-3, Zinc, etc. – Jan 2019 | | 15 May, 2022 |
| Preterm birth reduction by nutrients - Vitamin D is the best, Omega-3 is next best – May 2022 | | 15 May, 2022 |
| Preterm birth rate of pregnant smokers cut in half if take Omega-3 – RCT May 2017 | | 20 Feb, 2022 |
| Preterm birth varies with season: 25 percent more likely if conception in autumn – Feb 2022 | | 04 Feb, 2022 |
| Pre-term birth rate cut in half with 1000 milligrams of Omega-3 (if initially low) – RCT May 2021 | | 04 Jun, 2021 |
| Preterm birth risk increased 16 pcnt if heat wave (perhaps outside less) - Nov 2020 | | 16 Nov, 2020 |
| Preterm birth associated with many genes, including the Vitamin D Receptor again – Jan 2020 | | 30 Jan, 2020 |
| Preterm birth 8X more likely if poor Vitamin D Receptor – Dec 2019 | | 31 Dec, 2019 |
| 8 percent fewer preterm births if adequate Selenium from food – Aug 2019 | | 24 Dec, 2019 |
| Pregnant women in Australia to take Omega-3 when told of reduction in preterm births – Dec 2019 | | 19 Nov, 2019 |
| Preterm birth 9 X more likely if fetus had a poor Vitamin D Receptor and previous miscarriage – Aug 2017 | | 12 Nov, 2019 |
| Preterm birth rate not vary with vitamin D level (when all are less than 30 ng) – Oct 2019 | | 17 Oct, 2019 |
| Extreme preterm infants helped somewhat by 800 IU of vitamin D – RCT Jan 2018 | | 01 Oct, 2019 |
| Preterm Births reduced by Omega-3, Zinc, and Vitamin D – Aug 2019 | | 09 Aug, 2019 |
| Preterm birth increases risk of heart disease by 1.5 X by age 40 – June 2019 | | 06 Aug, 2019 |
| Preterm Births decreased by Omega-3 (analysis of 184 countries) – April 2019 | | 27 Apr, 2019 |
| Preterm birth 3X more likely if low vitamin D – Oct 2018 | | 07 Feb, 2019 |
| Omega-3 index of 5 greatly decreases the risk of an early preterm birth – Dec 2018 | | 04 Jan, 2019 |
| Preterm births 12 X more likely if poor Vitamin D Receptor (white infants in Italy) – meta-analysis Aug 2018 | | 27 Aug, 2018 |
| Third trimester Vitamin D levels were lower if pre-term labor was expected – March 2018 | | 24 Mar, 2018 |
| Preterm birth 4X more likely if very low Vitamin D (Chinese) - Feb 2018 | | 28 Feb, 2018 |
| Preterm birth rates increased in 15 European countries – Oct 2013 | | 23 Dec, 2017 |
| Vitamin D intervention reduces preterm births and low birth weight by 60 percent – Cochrane Reviews – Nov 2017 | | 07 Dec, 2017 |
| Preterm birth rate increased 60 percent in 50 years (US) | | 26 Nov, 2017 |
| Preterm births strongly related to Vitamin D, Vitamin D Receptor, Iodine, Omega-3, etc | | 13 Nov, 2017 |
| Vitamin D Receptor is associated with preeclampsia, gestational diabetes and preterm birth – Nov 2017 | | 10 Nov, 2017 |
| Preterm birth trend toward 2.5 X more likely if less than 10 ng of Vitamin D – Aug 2017 | | 26 Aug, 2017 |
| Preterm birth rate reduced by vitamin D – 78 percent if non-white, 39 percent if white – July 2017 | | 27 Jul, 2017 |
| Preterm birth more likely if dark skinned and low vitamin D (not white-skinned) – April 2017 | | 06 Jul, 2017 |
| Risk of preterm birth twice as likely when less than 10 ng of vitamin D – Nov 2016 | | 13 Apr, 2017 |
| Preterm labor 20 times more likely if low vitamin D, etc. (India) – Feb 2017 | | 08 Mar, 2017 |
| Preterm birth rate reduced by 43 percent with adequate Vitamin D supplementation – meta-analysis Feb 2017 | | 02 Mar, 2017 |
| Pre-term birth - many of risk factors are associated with low vitamin D | | 27 Feb, 2017 |
| Preterm birth rate reduced 57 percent by Vitamin D – Nov 2015 | | 23 Jan, 2017 |
| Vitamin D Webinar - cost of pre-term birth etc- Baggerly Nov 2013 | | 11 Dec, 2016 |
| Preterm birth extended by 2 weeks with Omega-3 – Meta-analysis Nov 2015 | | 10 Dec, 2016 |
| Omega-3 supplementation during pregnancy reduce early preterm births (save 1500 USD per child) – Aug 2016 | | 12 Oct, 2016 |
| Zinc helps pregnancies – 14 percent fewer preterm births, etc. – Cochrane RCT Feb 2015 | | 14 Jun, 2016 |
| Preterm birth has become the leading cause of infant mortality (vitamin D not mentioned) – JAMA June 2016 | | 07 Jun, 2016 |
| Preterm birth 30 percent more likely if low vitamin D – meta-analysis May 2016 | | 20 May, 2016 |
| Asthmatic pregnant women had 30 percent more preterm births if air pollution (vitamin D not mentioned) – March 2016 | | 09 Mar, 2016 |
| Omega-3 helps pregnancy in many ways: preterm 26 percent less likely etc – review July 2012 | | 08 Sep, 2015 |
| Extreme preterm survival 30 percent less likely if little sunshine 23-28 weeks – June 2015 | | 05 Sep, 2015 |
| Magnesium (Sulfate) reduces risk of cerebral palsy for those at risk of pre-term births – Dec 2013 | | 18 Aug, 2015 |
| Respiratory distress after preterm birth is more likely if low vitamin D – review April 2015 | | 05 Aug, 2015 |
| Pre-term births reduced in half if 40 ng of vitamin D in 3rd trimester – Nov 2014 | | 15 Mar, 2015 |
| Chance of preterm birth is strongly associated with low vitamin D – Feb 2015 | | 05 Feb, 2015 |
| The more preterm the birth, the lower the vitamin D level (both mothers and infants) – Feb 2014 | | 05 Feb, 2015 |
| Preterm infants more likely to have vitamin D levels below 20 ng – Feb 2014 | | 05 Feb, 2015 |
| Decreased risk of preterm birth if have more than 36 ng of vitamin D – Jan 2015 | | 09 Jan, 2015 |
| Pre-term birth 3X more likely and C-section 4X if less than 20 ng of vitamin D – May 2012 | | 13 Feb, 2014 |
| Recurrent pre term birth and low vitamin D – Dec 2012 | | 23 Jan, 2013 |
| Blacks have more pre-term births due to low nutrients such as vitamin D – Sept 2011 | | 14 Sep, 2011 |
| Pre-term birth not associated with first tri-mester vitamin D – April 2011 | | 21 Apr, 2011 |
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