Seafood consumption, the DHA content of mothers’ milk and prevalence rates of postpartum depression: a cross-national, ecological analysis

Background: Mothers selectively transfer docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) to their fetuses to support optimal neurological development during pregnancy. Without sufficient dietary intake, mothers become depleted of DHA and may increase their risk of suffering major depressive symptoms in the postpartum period. We postulated that the DHA content of mothers’ milk and seafood consumption would both predict prevalence rates of postpartum depression across countries. Methods: Published prevalence data for postpartum depression were included that used the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (n=14 532 subjects in 41 studies). These data were compared to the DHA, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and arachidonic acid (AA) content in mothers’ milk and to seafood consumption rates in published reports from 23 countries. Results: Higher concentrations of DHA in mothers’ milk (r=−0.84, p