The impact of docosahexaenoic acid on maternal mental health: scoping review

Abstract

Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) is a polyunsaturated essential fatty acid from the omega-3 series that appears to be key to perinatal mental health. For this, the aim of this review is to evaluate the effect of DHA on maternal mental health during pregnancy and lactation with respect to depression and anxiety. The present scoping review was carried out following the methodology of Arksey and O’Malley (2005). The selection of studies was carried out in accordance with PRISMA by means of systematic searches in the PubMed, Scopus, PsycINFO and Medline databases. The results classified according to the effectiveness of DHA. In most (n = 9) of the 14 studies finally included, DHA plasma levels with or without other polyunsaturated omega-3 fatty acids were significantly lower in pregnant women with depressive and anxiety symptoms. However, no study reported a beneficial effect of DHA on mental health during the postpartum period. The majority used detection method was the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (n = 11). The prevalence of depressive symptoms ranged between 5.9 % and 50 %. As a conclusion, although more research is needed in this area, these exploratory results suggest that DHA could play an important role in preventing the pathogenesis of depression and anxiety during gestation.