Midwife said I NEED to eat meat?

[dazedandconfuse]

I've been a vegetarian for about 3 years now, got asked at my pregnancy booking in if I had a vegetarian diet and when I told the midwife yes she gave me a massive lecture on how I NEED to incorporate meat into my diet!! Surely if I just take the recommended vitamins for vegetarian women in pregnancy it'll be fine?

AIBU to think it was ridiculous for her to say I NEED to eat meat??

[BertrandRussell]

Are you very underweight or very anemic? Do you have a good diet?

[meltingmarshmallows]

Weird! I’ve been a vegetarian for 15 years and at no point has it been mentioned. It was written in my notes under diet and that was it.

Did you tell her anything about your diet which would have caused concern?

[BertrandRussell]

Obviously you still don't need to eat meat even if you are underweight or anemic, but you will need to be more thoughtful about your diet than a meat eater would have to be.

[trinitybleu]

I produced a 9lber despite being veggie and anaemic, so I wouldn't worry!

[oldlaundbooth]

You don't need to eat meat

[BertrandRussell]

Oh, the baby will be fine- they ruthlessly leach off their mothers! But has she got any concerns about your diet?

[ivykaty44]

Yet someone eating sausage, bacon & other processed food products wouldn’t be told to eat meat

Yet these foods are not of nutritional value

[pleasewelcometherealme]

Sounds to me like you have just come across one very old-fashioned and ill informed midwife (I remember a relative complaining that she was told the same thing 30 years ago).

I have had 2 healthy pregnancies as a vegetarian and when I asked my midwife and doctor about this I was told that provided I took care to have a balanced diet there was no issue. In fact one midwife told me that vegetarian mums she's seen before tended to be well informed about nutrition!

[Ttbb]

We're there any health concerns resulting from your vegetarianism?

[ownedbySWD]

My vegetarian pregnancy was my absolute healthiest. (I also quit dairy but wouldn't have said I was vegan)

[sinceyouask]

Of course you don't need to eat meat. You do need to carefully assess your diet and ensure you incorporate plenty of iron rich foods, and you may need iron supplements.
I'm vegetarian, I was anaemic in my last two pregnancies, both times a diet overhaul and supplements sorted things out. I know the MN jury is out on how useful things like Spatone are, but I found that using Spatone at the pregnancy dose was enough in my third pregnancy for me not to have to use iron tablets.

[MotherOfBeagles]

Um nah! There’s loads of stuff on the nhs website saying can have perfectly health veggie pregnancy. I know because I am! Eating meat doesn’t guarantee anything healthy!

Ignore them and as long as you’re eating a balanced diet and taking your pregnancy vitamins you’ll be fine. (That is as much as is possible with morning sickness, heartburn, food aversions etc etc )

[DoubleHelix79]

Absolute BS. You can have a perfectly healthy pregnancy without eating any meat. Millions of Indian women do it every year. Funny enough my midwife said she'd noticed that her veggie women tended to have better iron levels than non veggies, because they made more of an effort to eat healthily.

[PandaCat]

I was veggie for the first half of my first pregnancy, I couldn't get my iron levels up so I chose to eat meat again. Not once did my midwife tell me that I absolutely needed to eat meat though, It was a consultant appointment that did it for me, he was very stern about my low iron levels. You definitely dont have to though.

[PurplePillowCase]

as everyone said.
you don't need meat.
you need a well balanced, nutricious diet, though.
perfectly possible without meat.

[bettydraper31]

I agree with everyone else. I think you're midwife is just "one of those" who just likes to impose their opinion on others. You and your baby will be fine I'm sure! X

[FaFoutis]

She is an unprofessional fool.

[MsHarry]

How ridiculous, sounds like the midwife is out of touch. Print off the NHS info and bring it to your next appointment!

[MagicMoneyTree]

Of course you don’t need to eat meat. I’ve never heard of anyone being told this when pregnant. I’d do what a pp suggested and print off the info from the NHS website and show it to her at your next appointment.

[schoolgaterebel]

You may NEED to change your diet because it is lacking.....you don't ever NEED to include meat in your diet though. It is perfectly possible to have a balanced and healthy diet without meat.

[glitterbiscuits]

I had healthy pregnancies with a vegetarian diet. Have fantastic vegetarian children in their teens now.

Contact the Vegetarian Society you can get a booklet to give to your ignorant midwife.

My friend is a GP and she says all midwives are mad and calls them mid witches!

[Swizzlesticks23]

Total bull


Don't listen to her just try and fill areas with non meat items.

[Fekko]

Nope, noone ever said that to me. The kid's fine...

[SaneAsABoxOfFrogs]

I've been vegetarian for 23 years, and have had two pregnancies where it has never been a problem. Just be aware that if you are put on a higher dose of folic acid it can interfere with vitamin b12 uptake, so make sure you are taking a multivitamin that includes b12.

[MeriReu]

Haven't read replies but my midwife genuinely said that if a vegetarian eats a really good diet and gets everything they're supposed to then they generally have healthier pregnancy than meat eaters!

Don't listen. How ridiculous of her.
I had a 7lb 8oz baby 6 days early (induced for no movement) and have been fully vegetarian for 13 years.