Question: Are there any particular foods which can make a baby extra brainy or clever during pregnancy?

Simon Langley-Evans answered on 12 Nov 2013:

Great question dizzyg and really difficult to answer because scientists don’t really have all of the answers. There are some nutrients in food that we know are very important. Iodine is one of them- we get it from milk and seafood- and babies whose mothers don’t consume enough can be brain damaged. Iron is also very important. We get it from meat and plants, but meat is the best source. Again, with too little the baby may not be very bright later on. There are also a type of fats called omega 3s which we also get from fish. These are needed to help the brain grow.

So no foods in pregnancy make the baby extra brainy, but some are needed to help the baby’s brain grow normally. After birth though there is something really important to help babies brighter and that is breastfeeding. Breast fed babies do better at school than babies who are bottle-fed.