to have a self-indulgent moan about pregnancy restrictions...

[Pandora2016]

Have been a good girl and have given up nicotine, alcohol, soft cheese, cured meat, rare meat, sushi, anything spicy (heartburn) and have had my measly, annoying, pathetic NHS ration of four cups of tea.... (That would have basically been breakfast in the past).

I'm starving and trying not to snack so as not to increase BMI. Dinner will not be ready for another hour.

FOR FUCKS SAKE. WORST FRIDAY NIGHT IN HISTORY. WTAF CAN I HAVE????

I HATE EVERYONE.

Mainly because we haven't told people yet (12 weeks) so I can't moan at them and think poor DP has had enough.

(I don't hate the cat, the cat is cute)

ARSE.

YANBU (except for only just having given up smoking, why even start) especially as it all changes all the time. Something that was ok last week will be TERRIBLE AND DANGEROUS AND YOU ARE BAD PERSON IF YOU EAT IT just next week. And vice versa.

I often think a lot of the twaddle that comes out about what's safe and isn't safe in pregnancy is just another way of keeping women and mothers down, especially when strangers decide to stick their unwanted noses in. As for the stillbirth rate, isn't it higher in the UK than most comparable countries so despite all the restrictions we are clearly still doing something wrong.

I had the odd glass of wine while pregnant. Fortunately I don't like things like Brie or sushi anyway. And I went off tea and coffee until I was about 15 weeks in, and then I could drink it again. But not coffee with frothy milk. It's strange what your tastebuds do.

The UK stillbirth rate is 33 out of 35 of developed countries. source

Pretty sure it has nothing to do with what we eat though. It's more to do with not monitoring the placenta in later stages of pregnancy (most Western EU countries have a standard 32 week scan which includes checking the blood flow to and from the placenta another interesting article).

Im 13.5 weeks and didnt know i was oreg until 9 weeks, definitely not avoided any of these as they are normally my favourite foods and baby is happy so far!

I was excited to have sushi after baby was born...but was breastfeeding and made baby ill. On plus side have spent past few months eating everything else and not putting on weight

I do feel for you but AIBU now as I'm going to have a moan. Due to colitis I am garlic, onion, mushroom, lactose, fructose etc etc free. I'm expecting first dc and I can't have anything that I can pick up on the way home - everything needs to be home cooked. Dealt with this for ages but I do miss rare (blue steak) though xxx

I ignored all restrictions but just in moderation. Eg i would have the odd glass of prosecco but I didn't get drunk or I ate runny eggs but made sure they were lion stamped. I found that worked for me because I weighed up the risks and never felt like I was depriving myself.

The most stressful day of my pregnancy was after craving a lovely steak for a week, on a meal out with colleagues they vetoed my order and swapped it for a fucking spag Bol. Possibly the angriest I've been in my life.

I totally respect people's rights to follow every food restriction on the list but I really wished people would credit me with the sense to make my own informed decision!! clearly still holding a grudge about the steak three years on

Definitely don't deny yourself food if you are feeling "starving" due to worry about bmi. Avoid the things that may cause food poisoning but there's lots of stuff to enjoy.

I was really into very dark chocolate in first pregnancy as it tastes like a "grown up" food.

As others said Stilton is ok as is sushi. I ate cured meats and smoked salmon as think risk very low. I think you can have pretty much anything if it's cooked through which gives lots of options.

cash that would make me angry too!

londonrach

24 weeks here too and told mil i want a baked camembert with crusty french bread washed down with a glass of cava when i have this baby!

Why not have it now? Baked Camembert is absolutely fine and a small glass of cava occasionally won't do any harm.

I am 20 weeks and having runny eggs (as long as lion stamped), a glass of wine a week and 2 mugs normal tea a day (the rest decaf). Someone mentioned mussels upthread- those are fine too if freshly cooked and piping hot. I miss salami, and prawn sandwiches. Finding Becks Blue a reasonable beer substitute.

Half of it i don't even believe. Just stick to it as I'll be castigated by family/medical people if I don't.

I swear half of it is a mixture of moral superiority and peer pressure. Not enough to be a good mother, we must be seen to be good mothers.

:O you're allowed sushi over there? Rice is one of the highest risk foods for salmonella so the absence of raw fish does not mean it is safe.

Also whoever said things being frozen kills the germs is so wrong it hurts, freezing simply severely retards bacterial growth to the point where it is pretty much stopped, it does not kill bacteria.

Seriously would love to believe that sushi is safe during pregnancy. 30 weeks and missing it like crazy. But everything I know about food safety screams no, regardless of government issued safe lists.

Its not just that food poisoning could have a higher cost for us, we are more susceptible to it while pregnant.

Rice isn't restricted at all over here. And sushi is frozen to kill parasites, not germs. That's why sushi specifically was banned, the risk of parasite infestation, not the general risk of eating raw fish.

Freshly cooked rice is fine, but cooked then cooled like in sushi it is a risk. Rice itself is never mentioned, but it is one of the reasons for the sushi restriction.

Added to the mercury, parasites and even certain types of seaweed are strongly warned against, sushi is taking more risks than almost any other food.

I'll happily eat processed meats, soft cheese, runny eggs and rare meat, but wouldn't touch sushi. I do however live in a country where eggs are considered safe and aren't refrigerated, and raw milk is readily available and safe to drink.

Look, everyone, just stop eating rice to be safe. No point in taking the risk.

That's most of the far East scuppered then....

I ate everything and continued to have a the odd glass of wine. But I am fairly robust. Bagged salad and pre made sandwiches are more likely to make you ill than anything else (mum works in public health) and no one recommends avoiding those.

I also haven't really given anything up. 1 or 2 glasses of wine a week if I feel like it (more often than not I don't). Eaten huge amounts of prawns, some cured meats, some soft cheese, rare meat (although medium rare rather than bleu).

I've also got a strong constitution (I don't know the last time I had food poisoning), and weigh the risks up myself rather than accepting the one size fits all, risk averse approach that medical professionals (understandably) take!

I'm eating pretty much what I want this pregnancy, brie, packets of parma ham, prawns, runny eggs the lot! I'm 25 weeks now.

You can have shop bought sushi! I often indulge in Waitrose nigiri or their sushi don thing. It's not raw and is cured so we can eat it! Yay! I'm 31 weeks and have been craving sushi like a demon, so I settled for this and it's so good!

Are we not meant to eat smoked salmon?! Oops.

I seem to be craving prawns more than ever because I can't have them...

Brie and Camembert- providing they are piping hot are fine.
Stilton is fine- all hard blue cheese is ok. Soft blue cheese such as dolcelatte and gorgonzola are recommended to avoid due to the higher water content and the higher chance of listeria.
Runny eggs are now fine.
Any sushi that has been previously frozen is fine.

The way i've looked at it (other than liver which is because of the high Vit A) is that all of the foods can make you ill at any other point, but because you're pregnant it would be worse if you got sick. I have never been made sick by blue steak. I have never been made sick by dolcelatte. I have never been made sick by sushi. I have never been made sick by a runny egg. so i've continued to eat these- happy days!

You can have prawns, even according to the NHS website.

And sushi, including farmed salmon (unfrozen).

In fact, they've lightened up a lot, although they haven't updated it with the salmonella/egg info.

Worth checking again, I think MWs are giving out some very outdated advice...

Most soft cheese in this country is pasteurised (including brie) so that's fine.

The risk is getting listeria or something from the food. I've never had food poisoning before (and have only heard of people getting it from restaurants with poor hygiene) so I continued to eat everything I wanted, much like EnPapillot.

My uncle is a microbiologist and told me that you'd have to be eating about a pound of raw liver a day to have any problems from the vit A in it, so as long are you're not, liver and bacon every so often is fine!

Sushi is not okay in most places - itsu, wasabi etc all those places don't freeze it and say it's not suitable

Pasteurised soft cheese is NOT okay either. Listeria risk is too great

This is all really clear on the NHS website.....

enpappilot you've got the wrong end of the stick. Toxoplasmosis from rare steak would not make YOU sick, it harms the foetus and you likely wouldn't even know you had it......