Breaking pregnancy food rules by accident. How to stop it!

[SkinnersRats]

So, I've been pregnant for 1 week and been planning it for months. I have the books, have procrastinated for hours on the the internet (have stalked the Mumsnet-Pregnancy forum for months, and even dipped into the Childbirth and antenatal forums!). So, in summary, I'm well prepared, and know my stuff about pregnancy. Ask me a question about how to be the model pregnant woman and I'll give you a full point answer!

BUT - I still for the life of me cannot remember all the things we can and can't eat. My brain has stopped working and already I've accidentally eaten the following, in 1 week!!!!:

• Mussels and various other shellfish (which were hopefully cooked, but on a home made pizza by a friend - the dough was cooked, so I assume the mussels were too)
• Home made icecream (again made by a friend, but not sure if it had raw eggs)
• Communion wine (eugh - it did not taste good, but then you're not meant to drink wine in the morning anyway! incidentally, I was about the 50th person to drink out of the glass too - that can't be good with the old compromised immune system!)
• Nut roast with LOADS of peanuts
• Mouldy bread (a week out of date, and covered in white mould)

And nearly eaten:

• Lovely pate
• Smoked salmon
• Goats cheese
• Steak and ale pie (sure that's fine though!)

How on earth do people get this right? It's only been a week, and I've broken almost every rule, or nearly broken it, just by forgetting to think!

Anyone found a handy leaflet with a checklist of what to ask yourself before you eat anything? I feel like I need to carry something round with me everywhere I go to remind myself of all the things I can and can't eat.

I'm currently pregnant with no2 and regularly eat everything you listed up there except pâté and mouldy bread (obviously!)
There are really actually very few things you should completely avoid, I think mainly mould ripened cheese (but ok if cooked) and pâté due to listeria.. Can't actually think what else as that's about all I avoid!

Have a look on the nhs website they have a full list and up to date guidelines.. You can even eat rare steaks etc now which they advised against in my last pregnancy (I have been taking full advantage of this!)

And I realise easier said than done but try not to stress about it too much baby will be fine!

If the Pizza was cooked then the seafood was cooked you would have known if they weren't they have the apperence of snot.

Most eggs have the lion mark they are pasturised so even if they were not cooked shouldn't be a problem

Communion wine, really would not worry about this on at all

Nut roast If you or your family are allergic avoid peanuts if not don't worry about it.

Bread yeah ewwwwww sorry but ewwwww i'm sure it will be fine though

No Pate for you. if the Goats cheese is rindless its fine, i crave smoked salmon at the moment.

Smoked salmon is fine to eat

Just read the nhs guidelines on their website for the full list of no nos there aren't that many anyway

Most of your list is fine anyway! The only things I definitely wouldn't have eaten would be the shellfish (but that's down to my own morning sickness, not paranoia!) and mouldy bread - but I'd avoid that if pregnant or not!

Smoked salmon is allowed, I haven't read any different anywhere.
Peanuts are fine, I heard that from a GP!
Even wine in that tiny quantity is not going to do any harm.
Steak and ale pie I wouldn't even think twice about! It's not going to get you drunk, there's just a bit of ale in the cooking.

Are people really that strict with what they eat during pregnancy? I'm 36 weeks today, and haven't really denied myself anything. Obviously I'm not getting drunk every night, but if I want a rare steak I'll bloody well have one.

Skinners, where did you get the info that tells you can't eat those foods? i regularly eat most of them, currently pregnant.
The NHS site is very good and foods which you obviously think are off limits are actually not!
Mouldy bread being the exception.

You are worrying excessively.
Since you asked, the NHS website has a good list of what not to eat.
www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/foods-to-avoid-pregnant.aspx
There are so few things that you can't eat at all that you won't need to carry a list around with you. Mostly, when you are pregnant you can carry on with life and eating as normal with the exception of alcohol and stinky cheese.
Steak and ale pie is fine. If you don't need ID to buy one then it doesn't count as alcohol. Communion wine is fine, you only take a sip. Incidentally the germs thing is the reason why the church uses a fortified wine with a 15% alcohol content (apparently).

Remember that women have been having babies since the beginning of time. Follow a few common sense rules and apart from that, don't panic.

www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/foods-to-avoid-pregnant.aspx

I fell pregnant on Boxing Day, found out in January. Worked out that I had eaten or drunk EVERY banned foodstuff on Food Standards Agency list at time! Made me very careful for the rest of pregnancy (and DS is fine ).

Stop worrying about it?

I know you're only trying to do the best for your baby, but really, none of this will make any difference. Pregnant women seem to have entered a state of collective hysteria over food and other 'forbidden fruits' and seem to be making up new 'rules' to break! I think it's tragic.

Pretend you're French?

I avoid raw egg all the time because I know how lousy salmonella poisoning is. The rest, meh.

NB I would not drink from a cup 50 people had shared if god came down and offered it to me.

The only things that you really should absolutely avoid are known toxins which have been proven to hinder healthy foetal development, so alcohol, nicotine and things with high levels of vitamin A (liver and liver based foods - pate, for example). Nuts are only a problem if there are allergies in your families.

Everything else is to do with the food poisoning risk, and you need to make the judgement for yourself. Salmonella, for example, is unlikely from raw eggs as there is a vaccination programme in chickens producing eggs for supermarkets. Be sensible, but try not to stress too much!

Um, I'm currently 15 weeks pregnant with DC3 and I eat whatever I want...... Don't fancy alcohol in the first trimester so I don't have it - now I have one small glass of wine a week. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, in the initial study, looked at women who regularly downed 5 drinks either every day or almost that. Only one third of their babies had FAS. This shows how very, very resistant babies are to alcohol..... Honestly - what do you think women have done through the ages? (And remember in the Middle Ages women drank mostly mead - low alcohol content, though! - as the water was so contaminated!)

RE: Listeria, etc - last study I consulted showed that, out of a then-population of 292 million, only 20 pregnant women had contacted listeria. Two thirds of their babies were fine. One third died in utero. Again, this shows that we are hardier than we think....

Agree drugs and nicotine are bad (and have been proven to be so.)

Look at the studies (actual science) also history NOT the stupid, alarmist pregnancy books. Science can be really illuminating!!!

(The studies I look at are US-based, as that is where I live)

chocolate and most had caught the listeria from pre-packed salad and shop sandwiches! In fact the last outbreak was from lettuce! funnily enough they dont appear on the banned list....

Ah I have failed miserably on this front too.

Definete avoids for me are - runny eggs in cafe's, alcohol, ciggarettes, limited caffeine but still drinnking more than ok limit despite my best efforts its hard to count how many cups you drink in a day!!

Had a medium rare steak other day didn't even know that it was not ok

Don't worry too much about it, I just make sure I eat plenty of fruit and veg and calcium

Medium rare steaks are fine provided they're cooked on the outside.