Want a smarter baby? Consider adding Omega-3s to your diet. Results of a Canadian study suggest Moms who eat a diet rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, during the third trimester of pregnancy, have smarter children.

Researchers at Universite Laval measured the concentration of Omega-3s in the umbilical chord blood of more than 100 newborns.

They discovered babies with higher concentrations of it at birth, had higher brain development at six months and eleven months of age.

Universite` Laval researchers concluded "a diet rich in Omega-3s during pregnancy can't be expected to solve everything, but our results show that such a diet has positive effects on a child's sensory, cognitive and motor development."

Cindy Reuter, a Naturopath and Registered Dietitian at Providence's Integrative Medicine Clinic explains how this impacts the unborn child.

"There's a particular point during pregnancy where there's a very rapid period of brain and eye growth, which happens around the third trimester."

She adds "the baby's body starts to take up those fats (Omega-3s) from Mom's diet as a way of creating the structure for the brain and the retina of the eye."

Reuter is familiar with the Universite` Laval study, and agrees, a Mom's third trimester diet is crucial to a baby's development.

"One of the things they talked about in the study was a particular visual test, where they notice how a baby responds to certain visual stimuli - and there's one part of the test that over time is a good predictor of a child's cognitive ability (IQ) later in life."

Tiare Sanna, a Portland area mother of three and big proponent of Omega-3, says "it's always nice when there's research that backs up what I'm already doing."

Sanna believes her pregnancy diet, which included fish-oil supplements containing Omega-3s, gave her children an advantage.

"Of course every mother thinks their child is smart, but I think it has given them that boost."

You'll find Omega-3 fatty acids in foods such as fish, walnuts, free-range chicken, or in supplements. Reuter suggests women who are pregnant, or are considering getting pregnant, talk with their doctors about Omega-3s.

Sanna started taking the supplements daily, five years ago, before she had her first child. She says her children have very good attention spans.

She adds "my daughter was putting together 24-piece jigsaw puzzles at two and a half... and I think she got that 'step up' because of what I was doing prenatally."

For more information about the study, please visit This link