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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Food restrictions during pregnancy

133 replies

AliGrylls · 04/06/2009 10:31

I just need to get this out of my system.

During my pregnancy I have found it a little much because everytime I order certain things in restaurants people look at me as if to say "should you be eating that?"

In addition, at my ante-natal booking in appointment I was asked "do you drink?" - honestly 2 small glasses of wine per week. I was told I needed to stop completely. The list of foods I was given to avoid seemed endless. Even things I had never thought about (mayonnaise being one).

AIBU for thinking that pregnant women are treated like idiots nowadays and as if they are incapable of working things out for themselves. Why can't they just tell us the risks (which are usually so minute anyway) and then let us make the decisions?

I appreciate that maybe there are some thickos out there but personally I find the attitude that people take towards pregnancy really patronising.

OP posts:
neversaydie · 04/06/2009 17:20

My son is now 9, and I can see that the list of prohibitions has grown legs since I was pregnant. But even then, I worked out pretty swiftly that if I asked whether any specific thing (whether ingested or activity) was safe, the answer was almost always "Well, better not..."

So, I stopped asking.

I went off coffee and processed meat anyway, drank very occasional glasses of beer (full of B vitamins!) or wine and continued to eat sushi. I did stay off runny cheeses, but that was the only thing that I avoided that I would have actually liked to eat.

I lost weight through the pregnancy (was very overweight, so a positive benefit) and thrived. As did my baby son.

HellHathNoFury · 04/06/2009 18:44

I have been reading this thread with interest all day.

Until I just spent the last 2 hours with food poisoning.

I am 29 weeks and currently feel like shit heated up.

What did I have? Sushi? Brie? Pate?

Nope. Fish and sodding chips.

Kathyis6incheshigh · 04/06/2009 18:52

"if I asked whether any specific thing (whether ingested or activity) was safe, the answer was almost always "Well, better not...""

Yes exactly
I once made the mistake of asking if cold water swimming is ok and of course she didn't know so told me not to.
This time round I thought about it a bit more and decided to say sod it and do it anyway.

totalmisfit · 04/06/2009 19:10

i agree. i sometimes wonder how the French population manages to maintain itself... presumably women there still eat unpasteurised cheese, etc etc, and if anything they're healthier than we are. And i probably shouldn't mention that they nearly all bottlefeed (and aren't guilt-tripped about it). I'm planning to breastfeed this time around (as i did with dd) and i'm not remotely pro formula but it does make me wonder...

i gave birth to dd 3 years ago and thought the rules and regulations were stringent then. Now it's at least twice as bad... 3 years from now i wonder if even setting foot in a pub will be banned!

screamingabdab · 04/06/2009 19:16

OP ignore ignore ignore.

The only things i avoided during pg were things that I had had food poisoning from before : basically prawns and mussels

PurpleCrazyHorse I too had serious McDonalds cravings during first pregnancy

screamingabdab · 04/06/2009 19:19

HellHathnoFury I have had an upset tummy from Fish and chips the last 3 times I have had it (I am not pg). I think I just can't properly digest the fat, or maybe the batter.

Anyone out there know about this?

Honneybunny · 04/06/2009 19:21

one couple we know were told during their antenatal classes that pregnant women should not travel to places that are more than 1000m above sea level, as that would be harmful.

the husband asked, if that were true then how come Mexico city is one of the most densely populated cities in the world (it's at an altiture of 2.2km)...

Kathyis6incheshigh · 04/06/2009 19:22

rofl @ your dh Honneybunny

GentlyDidIt · 04/06/2009 19:23

LovelyTinOfSpam, the sleep on the left thing is apparently to avoid squishing your vena cava.

The only reason I don't sleep flat on my back is because I have the mobility of an upturned ladybird in this position.

mumtoted · 04/06/2009 19:33

I ate peanut butter when pregnant and my daughter is allergic to peanuts . I'm not saying that is a direct result of my eating peanuts while pregnant but at least i'd know it wasn't my fault if i hadn't.

As far as i know there is a link between talc & cancer and the same for hair dye but only very dark or black dye. Nothing to do with pregnancy but just bad for you generally.

LovelyTinOfSpam · 04/06/2009 19:34

But what will actually happen if you don't? I mean, I have never heard of any babies dying or anything because mum slept on her right...

Yet things just say "sleep on your left" with no explanation

I always sleep on right as otherwise i get DH breathing in my face which for some reason I can't bear, and DD didn't seem to suffer any consequences...

JemL · 04/06/2009 19:41

If midwifes, etc are going to dish out this sort of advice then they should also offer some sort of screening process to monitor the things we are supposedly at risk of - for instance, as someone pointed out, in France women are screened for listeria, and they are also regularly and routinely screened for toxoplasmosis. The problem here is that we have no way to gauge the importance of the advice (if it is so crucial to avoid certain things, why is screening not part of antenatal care) and if you do "break the rules" you can then have weeks of worry after the midwife gives you a stern telling off!!

The whole system just doesn't make sense - it is like they are saying, "this advice is so important you are going to be beaten round the head with it for nine months, but not so important that we are going to bother doing anything about it!"

Rant for the day over...

SarahL2 · 04/06/2009 19:43

I can't bear it either spam - I made my husband swap sides of the bed with me when pregnant with DS so I could sleep on my left without him breathing on me!

LovelyTinOfSpam · 04/06/2009 19:46

It's awful isn't it sarah. I hate having anyone breathe on me...

It's just.....

GentlyDidIt · 04/06/2009 19:49

LovelyTinOfSpam If you don't your norks will drop off.

Sorry, I have absolutely no idea either. I sleep in whatever position I can get it and so far, so 38F.

JoPie · 04/06/2009 19:50

To be fair though, there is a very big difference between living in and being accustomed to high altitude and visiting it pregnancy. That one is actualy good advice, high altitudes, when you are not used to them, can be really very dangerous in late pregnancy.

I'm eating prosciutto, pastuerised brie and camembert and drinking beer though.

LovelyTinOfSpam · 04/06/2009 19:51

Mmmmmm beer....

summerbird · 04/06/2009 20:56

right am off for a beer, smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich whilst skiing down a red run on my right side - or something

oh and i get a dicky tummy from fish and chips too, that was pre pregnancy and havent eaten it during pregnancy just in case, but that is my choice as i know it makes me ill. i think it is just our local chippy that is dodgy though.

LovelyTinOfSpam · 04/06/2009 20:58

Just realised my DH always gets a gippy tum when we have fish n chips...

Interesting....

somewhathorrified · 04/06/2009 21:21

chips from the chippy always give me heartburn (while not preggy, daren't try them now!). I put it down to the fact that you can practically wring the chips out.

barnsleybelle · 04/06/2009 21:41

Please don't blame the midwives etc. The problem is now, that we live in a society that if something goes remotely adverse the answer is to sue.

The heath care professionals these days are so frightened of losing their certificate to practise that they automatically air on the side of caution.

Unfortunately the nanny state has been bred out of the new breed of " it's that person's fault, let's sue".

Nekabu · 05/06/2009 06:58

The sleep on the left thing is to avoid squashing your vena cava and to encourage your baby to lie on your left. Apparently the optimum position for birth is facing down, on the left hand side with the spine away from the mother's spine. As all along the baby's spine is the heaviest bit then gravity will naturally encourage it over that way if you're lying on your left. Apparently there's a lot more spine-to-spine birth positions now because we have nice comfy squishy sofas and people are relaxing in them sloping back a bit so their babies are lying with their spine the same way as the mother's spine, facing outwards.

LovelyTinOfSpam · 05/06/2009 15:39

But should that translate into blanket instruction of "you must sleep on your left" full stop?

I would say not.

laweaselmys · 05/06/2009 16:03

My MW was lovely. The only thing she asked me not to do was keep walking around town listening to my iPod in case I got mugged, lol!

Thankfully most people I know are pretty sensible and were prepared to take my word that I had researched and thought it was OK, or had ignored advice themselves!

Nekabu · 05/06/2009 16:04

I'd say not too; just because something is the optimum doesn't mean everyone should sit there suffering sleep deprivation in an effort to do it! Apparently the baby usually turns to face the right way during labour anyway (apparently a lot of the early stages of labour are the baby turning to get in that position) though if the pelvis is big enough they can come out spine to spine but it is very uncomfortable.