Many pregnant consume fish oil supplements as advised by their doctors, marketing campaigns or believing the popular notion that fish oil contains an ingredient called docosahexaenoic acid or DHA which proves to be extremely helpful in the brain development of the unborn.

The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association this week on Tuesday.

Scientists suggest that the DHA supplements which are taken by women who have conceived do not show any clear benefit in adding to the brains of their babies. There was no such proof during the study that can indicate that DHA could reduce postpartum depression except in women who already have a high risk for it.

Several studies done earlier have shown that DHA which is an omega-3 fatty acid present in fish oil can help in the development of an unborn baby if it is taken during pregnancy.

However, most of these studies were done on a small scale or on women who were already very health conscious and were consuming fish oil before hand.