When it comes to feeding your new baby, breast is best and always will be. Breast milk is the perfect food for infants containing all the goodness they need plus your antibodies to protect your baby from infections.

But do you know that you can alter the quality of your breast milk according to what you eat? Through your diet you can actually make it richer and more nutritious for your baby. You are what you eat, and so is your baby. Breast milk contains the essential nutrients for your baby, including omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. But if you're not eating enough of them your baby is going short too. It's important your baby doesn't. Here's why.

The first years of life are a time of dramatic growth spurts - not least in the brain, the eye and the nervous system and scientists now realise that a baby's healthy development depends, among other things, on an adequate supply of fats - or rather, particular types of 'good' fats.

A particular omega-3 fatty acid, DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), has become known as the 'structural' fatty acid - because it's a major building block throughout the body - but particularly in the brain and the retina of the eye. AA (arachidonic acid), an omega-6 fatty acid, is also important for infant growth and the development of the brain.

Compelling evidence suggests that babies who get sufficient levels of these omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids are likely to have improved intellectual, language and physical development.

While breast milk is always the best choice for your baby's short-term and long-term health, you can actually improve it by making sure you eat the right foods. While most women who eat a typical Western diet get enough AA, they frequently have much lower than average levels of DHA in their blood. Supplementing your diet with DHA has been shown in research to improve the levels of DHA in breast milk. Simply eating omega-3 rich foods, or foods fortified with omega-3s can do the same for you and your baby. The richest source of omega-3 fats is oily fish - salmon, tuna, sardines and pilchards, and nursing mothers are now encouraged to eat oily fish on a regular basis, with a maximum of two portions a week.

There are some concerns about the safety of eating a lot of oily fish due to the possible presence of mercury and dioxins. Other sources of DHA include fortified foods like eggs, milk, and yoghurt, and supplements.

For non-fish eaters, microalgae supplements are a vegetarian source rich in DHA and a useful way of increasing DHA omega-3 intake.

Many infant formulas are now being fortified with DHA and AA - including derivatives from oily fish as well as from new microalgae sources. A widely used form of these new vegetarian supplements is life'sDHA™, an extract from algae, algae being the main original source of DHA for oily fish. Life'sDHA™ is rigorously produced from microalgae ensuring it's safe and free from ocean-borne contaminants which might be in oily fish. More than eighty per cent of infant formulas in the US use this safe, vegetarian source to help ensure mothers give their babies the best possible start.

Whether breast or bottle feeding your baby, you can give them a head start by making sure you enrich your diet and theirs with DHA and AA. Your baby will thank you for it.