This article is self explanatory if you take a glance at the title... don't think I need to clue you in to the main idea:) However, the main points are as follows as outlined in the article:
- Pregnant women should include fish in their diet for optimal maternal health and fetal growth and development, but not so much as to expose babies to dangerous levels of mercury.
- U.S. FDA recommends no more than 12 oz/week, but scientists in nutrition & medicine state this is minimum amount needed.
- Both the FDA as well as the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists agree fish consumption should be of a low-mercury content. I.e. mothers are urged to avoid certain types of fish such as shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish, which are higher in mercury. Some mothers were reading into the warnings and avoiding fish altogether. However, eliminating fish entirely is not a good thing.
- Fish contains lg amts of omega-3 fatty acids which are important for neural development; thus, limiting it can be detrimental to a child's development
- Several studies were highlighted that proved that when babies born to mothers who ate numerous servings of fish per week, their intelligence and motor skills test scores were higher than those who did not.
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