Is halibut safe during pregnancy?

What does the evidence say about halibut during pregnancy?

1. Halibut sits in the Good Choices category, where the pregnancy guidance is one 4-ounce serving a week and no other fish that week. 1
2. Halibut averages 0.241 parts per million of mercury across 101 FDA samples, against 0.111 for cod and 0.013 for tilapia. 2
3. The fish that carry more methylmercury are the large ones, the long-lived ones, and the ones that eat other fish, which is the pattern behind halibut landing a category above cod. 3
4. Eating a variety of fish is better than eating the same type every time, and a week where you fall short can be made up in the weeks that follow rather than doubled up. 4
5. DHA concentrates in the brain and the retina and builds up fastest during the third trimester, which is the reason the weekly fish slot is worth spending well. 5

Is halibut safe in each trimester?

• First trimester. The once-a-week ceiling applies from the beginning, and it is a whole-week budget rather than a per-meal one. If halibut is your fish this week, that is the fish for the week. Plenty of people simply save halibut for a special dinner and fill the rest of the month with Best Choices.
• Second trimester. This is the easiest trimester to get the rhythm right: pick either two or three Best Choices meals, or one Good Choices meal like halibut. Mixing the two in the same week is what quietly pushes the weekly total up. Writing it down for a couple of weeks makes the pattern obvious.
• Third trimester. Nothing about the third trimester changes halibut's category. What does change is that your baby is laying down brain and retinal tissue fastest now, so if halibut is using up your one weekly slot, check that the rest of your month has enough oily, low-mercury fish in it. Your provider can review the whole picture.