Medium rare beef in pregnancy

[2017Babyontheway]

Hi,

I've just been abroad and a couple of times I ordered beef and it came out medium rare. Although I didn't finish the meal because a part of me was worried about the way it was cooked I did eat a bit of it and now I'm worried it may have done some harm! I'm 15 weeks.

I didn't have any food poisoning after eating it but can it still affect my baby? I'm worried if I've done some damage I wont find out till baby arrives!

Any advice will be appreciated!

[JigglyTuff]

No it can't affect your baby. Please read up on the risks so you know why you're supposed to avoid certain things otherwise you're going to have many anxious months ahead. The NHS has a good website

[chelle85]

I don't actually understand the advice against pink beef to be honest. As long as the meat is seared on the outside that kills any bacteria. I cannunderstand why burgers should be cooked through as the mince has had contact with the air and then been formed into a burger so potential for bacteria to be inside burger but with a lump of steak I just don't see the issue.

[JigglyTuff]

There is a (very) small risk of getting toxoplasmosis from undercooked meat and cooking it all the way through is the only way of avoiding it completely. It's got nothing to do with exposure to air - the parasite is in the meat

[kikibo]

Have a look at this very educational forum post: www.babyledweaning.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=23631

I would add as well that toxoplasmosis is killed not only by freezing, but also by temperatures above 70°C, so your steak has to be very rare if you don't want to reach that temp.

[troodiedoo]

You need to read expecting better by Emily oster, it'll put your mind at rest.

Congratulations :) and welcome to the minefield of "can I do... when pregnant" Googling

[QuizTeamaAguilera]

I accidentally ate some quite rare steak at about 7 months pg. I say accidentally as it really was - DH cooked some steak, and we ate it in quite a dark room while we chatted and I honestly hadn't realised it was still quite rare until I sliced a thicker chunk and looked at the plate.

I panicked, rang 111, who basically gave me the same info as the NHS website. I then spoke to my midwife and 2 different GPs (both in passing when I took DS for an appointment) and not one was concerned in any way, highlighting the food poisoning risk rather than toxoplasmosis. I was anxious about it for a while but I'm 39+1 now and everything is fine - it's so hard to stay on the right side of the rules 100% of the time even with all the warnings!