Fresh fish nutrient may boost baby size, Melbourne scientists discover

EXCLUSIVE: A NUTRIENT found in fresh fish and meat could be the key to preventing babies being born dangerously small, Melbourne scientists have discovered.

Sheree and Max Duckworth at the Monash Medical Centre. Picture: Rob Leeson.

BOOSTING pregnant women’s levels of a critical nutrient, found in fresh fish and meat, could avert births of dangerously small babies and reduce the infants’ risk of brain injury and death.

A discovery by Melbourne scientists that women with lower levels of creatine have smaller babies has prompted a world-first study to determine optimal levels.

The naturally occurring amino acid — also a popular bodybuilding supplement — appears to boost a baby’s size, improving survival chances.

The findings could revolutionise dietary advice to pregnant women, in the same way the discovery that high levels of folate protected ­babies from neural tube ­defects led doctors to recommend that pregnant women, and women trying to conceive, take folic acid.

Researchers from the Ritchie Centre, who are ­specialists in foetal, children’s and women’s health from the Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Monash University and Monash Health, will measure the levels of creatine in maternal and umbilical blood and in the placentas of 900 women.

Pre-clinical studies have shown the foetus relies on the placenta to provide creatine until late pregnancy, and that supplementation can dramatically improve offspring survival after birth asphyxia by protecting organs from the impact of oxygen deprivation.

RELATED: BABY FLAT HEAD FEARS STOKE SIDS RISK

Building on this initial ­research, new findings published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology show that women who have less creatine in their bodies have much smaller babies.

“We found for the first time that a mother’s creatine levels affect the growth of her baby in the womb,” Ritchie Centre lead researcher Dr Hayley Dickinson said.

“Being born small increases the risk of developmental challenges, and an undetected small baby is one of the leading causes of stillbirth.”

Currently it is not clear whether low levels of creatine, which helps our cells’ energy generation and supply, is a cause or a consequence of growth restriction.

“If it’s cause, then we can look at putting more creatine into the diet of these women who have had previous stillborn or low-weight babies, and we may be able to turn it around,” Dr Dickinson said.

“But if it’s consequence, then it could be a marker to detect those babies that are not growing properly, and allow us to intervene.”

Creatine may one day ­become a cheap nutritional supplement for use in pregnancy, but Dr Dickinson warned against pregnant or breastfeeding women taking bodybuilding supplements.

“It’s two lives that we are talking about, and we simply don’t know if it is safe for a human foetus, or women, to get high levels of creatine during pregnancy. But if I could give one recommendation, it would be to make sure women are eating meat and fresh fish as part of a ­balanced diet.”

The trial is under way, but the researchers still need philanthropic support to ensure its continuation.

[e-mail]