pregnancy and sheep

[sarahmia]

ok, so i went to the farm today and i didnt actually touch any of the sheep but my DD did and so did my DH... we washed hands about 10 times, and thoroughly before eating but i have a bit of a tummy ache now and im terrified. Apparantly your not supposed to be around sheep during pregnancy as it can cause miscarriage. Does anyone know anything about this?

I live in a rural area and was told when pg with DS1 not to go near sheep placenta (as you do!). Something to do with toxoplasmosis I think but I really wouldn't stress out about today's outing, its HIGHLY unlikely to be an issue.

Newborn lambs can carry a risk of toxixplasmosis.

Like trixie said, it's unlikely to be anything to worry about.

You're fine around sheep unless you're actually involved in lambing -- more info here: www.defra.gov.uk/news/2011/02/14/advice-to-pregnant-women-during-the-lambing-season/

The others are right - the risk is of contracting either toxo or other viruses through coming into contact with lambing fluids and wet ie just born lambs.

My partner is a sheep farmer and we've just finished lambing. I've not been involved in any lambing, we've both anti-bac'd our hands every hour or so, plus my OH has done all his own washing.

You will be fine having visited the farm - toxo shows up as a flu type thing so keep your eyes open for that, and the farm may well not have the other bugs in which case you're even less at risk. Please don't panic.

your tummy ache is probably brought on by the stress of worrying about it!! Really dont worry - its lambing that preg ladies are not meant to be around, not sheep in general....I went to a farm park /petting place at 12 weeks preg for a hen do, made sure I didnt touch any animals (looked well miserable refusing to go anywhere near the petting area, or any animals in fact!) & washed hands before / after eating. I have to run the daily gauntlet of washing my son & daughters mucky soily hands after they've finished digging up the garden all day- again, preg ladies meant to be careful around gardening / soil incase any naughty cats have pooped in it (causes toxoplasmosis), but there is not a huge amount I can do... kids love soil / getting messy, so I just have very sore hands from the constant hand washing!!

I was just about to post a similar thread. I took ds to a children's farmyard yesterday and they basically told me I couldn't come in as there were newborn lambs. I looked up the defra site when I got home - the staff had obviously just been told to be extremely over-cautious to avoid any lawsuits etc.

I live next to a farm and pretty much have to walk past lambs every day, but just make sure I don't touch them.