Holidays in France while pg

[earthwormalot]

Hi,

I will be (touch wood) 23 weeks when we hit la France for a lovely holiday soon. Have read a few things on here about toxoplasmosis being prevalant in France, and that mums to be there are tested regularly for it. I assume that if I follow the same guidelines as we have in the UK - i.e. avoid meat that still moos and wash veg and fruit really well then I'm no more at risk there than I would be here.

Would that be about right?

Oh, and any tips for travelling with a bump would be gratefully received too.

thanks for the above tangle - my dear mother in law knows I love goats cheese / camembert etc & is forever stocking up on pastuerised versions for me when we visit France when I'm pregnant. I never eat them as I was sure I'd heard before about it being the softness of the cheese thats important, not whether its pastuerized (I believe many parmesans are made with unpastuerized milk but are fine because they're so hard & contain so much salt), and now your post gives me an actual reason to tell MIL (instead of just looking like the evil DIL who won't accept her kind gestures!).

If you want to be tested for toxo, it's quite simple. Make an appointment with your local GP who will write you a prescription for a blood test, you then take that to any laboratory and they will draw bloods and have results for you in 24 hours. Ask for receipts from both places and you can use your European Health Care card to be re-imbursed (either in France or the UK, not sure how it works in the UK, but if France you go to your local CPAM centre). The GP's visit should cost about 25 euros and about the same for the blood test.

My GP did the TORCH test for me which is for toxoplasma/rubella/CMV/HSV (& also parvovirus) - I'm immune to toxo despite having been a life long vegetarian/vegan!

I live in France.

My doctor said avoid salads/raw veg/fruit etc in restaurants not only because they're not always washed well but also because the resturants don't always change chopping boards between meat and salads etc...

She also said to avoid salad in sandwiches etc.

I was told that I can eat charcuterie if I buy the industrialised stuff sold in supermarkets (not in the deli section but the pre-packaged stuff).

Most starters are impossible in restaurants (eg. smoked salmon).

In restaurants I find that if I ask for "bien cuit" and smile and say, I mean no pink at all because I'm pregnant, then the meat is well done. A few times it's been lovely and tender, only once was it completely burnt to a crisp

I get tested for toxo every month - might be worth getting tested before going (in case you're immune) and after going (just in case, to put your mind at rest).