Association between omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and lower risk of preterm delivery: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective To explore whether omega-3 fatty acid supplementation is associated with lower risk of preterm delivery. Methods Searching the RCTs which were compared preterm birth between women with omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and without before December 2019 on Medline, EMBASE and Cochrane's Library, then performing a meta-analysis. Results 26 trials were identified, included 20124 women. There was almost no association between omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and lower risk of preterm delivery (risk ratio 0.92, 95% confidence interval 0.85 to 1.01,I-2 = 9%), gestational duration (0.30, -0.05 to 0.64,I-2 = 48%). In subgroup analyses, preterm delivery lower rate occurred in groups with mixed DHA and EPA supplementation not only DHA supplementation groups (P for interaction = 0.02); The dose of equivalent greater than 1 g made a higher reduction in preterm birth significantly. Conclusions Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation was not associated with reduced risk of preterm delivery compared with placebo or no treatment during pregnancy. Relationship between Omega-3 fatty acid supplementation and other pregnant outcomes need more evidence and clinical studies.

Automated summary

The study found that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation during pregnancy is not significantly associated with a reduced risk of preterm delivery compared to placebo or no treatment. However, subgroup analysis showed that a mix of DHA and EPA supplementation and a dosage greater than 1g can significantly reduce the rate of preterm birth.