Omega-3s Help Mums Reduce Baby Allergies

Taking fish oil capsules during pregnancy could help women with a family history of eczema to avoid passing on the condition to their children.

Researchers at the Women's and Children's Health Research Institute in South Australia, have found mothers with babies at high risk of allergic disease can reduce the risk of their children developing eczema by 36% and the risk of being sensitised to egg by 38%. 

These results were the results of a large trial were pregnant women were given 800mg DHA and 100mg EPA daily from 21 weeks of pregnancy until birth. 

The results echo those from a previous trial in Sweden in 2009, which found that mothers given fish oil capsules were three times less likely than untreated to pass on eczema to their children.

Other potential treatments under development for eczema include beneficial bacteria incorporated into probiotic yogurts.