Vegetarian and pregnant - advised to eat fish/meat

[GuppieK]

I wonder if anyone can help. I've been vegetarian since the age of 10 and have always assumed I eat a pretty varied and healthy diet - lots of fruit, vegetables, pulses, seeds etc and tofu, 'Quorn' products, soya etc.

Recently me and my partner have been trying to get pregnant and I've had 2 early miscarriages and am now pregnant (7wks) for the third time. This has coincided with me seeing an osteopath (who is also a nutritionist) for a shoulder injury and he has started to look into my diet as he thinks I might be lacking in protein which could be the reason my shoulder isn't getting better quickly.

He seems to think my diet is pretty unhealthy, lacking in vital fats and protein, and that I should really at least eat fish and preferably meat. Today he has said that the reason for my miscarriages could be that my body isn't up to carrying a child so aborted the pregnancies. We've come to the compromise that I'll take a hemp protein supplement (I already take flaxseed oil and a multi-vitamin) and also reduce my soya and 'Quorn' consumption, as he says they're heavily processed foods and not good for us. But I'm super paranoid now, and I was already paranoid because of the miscarriages! I feel like it's possible to be a healthy vegetarian and provide a baby with everything it needs to grow, but after 24 years of being vegetarian my beliefs are being severely tested and I'm wondering whether I need to start at least eating fish.

Has anyone here had a healthy vegetarian pregnancy, and what types of food did you make sure you got lots of? Thanks :)

As a committed meat-eater I have no dietary advice to offer, but I would say - I have had three unexplained miscarriages before conceiving the one I'm currently pregnant with. Sometimes these things just happen, as bollocks as it is, and if you wanted to investigate whether your diet played any part in it (which I seriously doubt as many babies are fine even when their mothers can only stomach ice pops and salt & vinegar crisps), I would suggest contacting a miscarriage specialist rather than a nutritionist or even dietician. The whys and wherefores of miscarriage are so complicated and in some cases infathomable, even to specialists, so I wouldn't pay too much attention to someone who is ultimately, in this situation, a lay person.

Good luck with your pregnancy.

I'm veggie and got pregnant very quickly. There is no problems with a veggie diet! I know people who lived on high fat and high salt crap (without ever encountering a veg that wanst deep fried) and they managed to get pregnant! Unless you are very defficient in something, then they are just talking nonsense.

Try the veggie Omega 3-6-9 capsules, or Udos oil. Quorn is high in proytein, as is tempeh. A good varied and balanced diet, with lost of green leafy veg and fruit is fine.

I took a multivit and fish oil tablets whilst pregnant (doctor told me to) because I was advised that it was good for the baby. Since I chose to get pregnant, I took them during the pregnancy and all was absolutely fine.

I ate lots of everything because I am a greedy mare. I did cut out most caffeine though.

I agree with GrandPoohBah.
I was so sick throughout 40 weeks of pregnancy that there were days when all I ate was a spoonful of rice. I had a healthy 9lb baby. I was wretched and lots loads of weight but the baby was fine.

Haven't got time to read all the replies so hope someone else has said this. An osteopath is not qualified to give dietary advice and I'm pretty shocked at what you've been told and I think you should report them to whatever professional body they're a member of.

I think it's awful for someone to come up with all kinds of theories as to why you've had miscarriages - how upsetting to have someone pontificate about whether your diet could have caused that to happen. Outrageous!

I'm a vegetarian and have had 2 very straightforward pregnancies. At one time the midwife commented on how good my iron levels were and said, "You can't be a vegetarian". I enjoyed telling her I was.

Vegi here too and mother of three including twins. Out of all my NCT group I and one other also vegi werent iron dificient through their pregnancies.

He sounds a fool.

Also veggie. Have had 3 successful pregnancies and a couple of miscarriages. Not unlike most other women, meat eaters or not. Children breastfed for 9 months DS1, 18 mths DD1 and 2 years DS2.

I would also suggest Udo's Choice for veggie omege 3-6-9. Have you had you B12 levels checked? My GP tested B12 and iron at the beginning of every pregnancy.

Thanks so much for all of the advice on here and the good luck messages. It's so great to read about people who have good vegetarian pregnancies and also successfully had babies after miscarriages.

Seeker - I didn't ask what his qualifications were on nutrition, which I feel a bit dumb about since I've taken his advice on board. Looking into it, he is actually a naturopath, which could explain a lot! I have no idea exactly what they do... but it doesn't actually sound like he is trained in nutrition.

I feel much better having done some of my own research and more confident that my diet isn't as bad as he is saying but that there is room for improvement, as probably with most people. And also that it's unlikely my diet has contributed to these miscarriages.

I'm a veggie that occasionally eats fish, however, when pregnant I had such bad morning sickness that I hardly ate anything and certainly not fish (mainly survived on pasta and cheese), had a perfectly healthy baby. I did take iron and multi vit tablets through pregnancy though at recommendation of the doctor.

Sorry I have not read the whole thread but I am veggie and have been for more than 20 years and have a DD who is 8 months.

I had a very easy pregnancy and birth and felt really healthy the whole time.

The only extra thing I did was take the Pregnacare supplement (the one which has the folic acid and the other blister pack in), I think it was extra iron - can't remember for definite.

I know 2 meat eaters who had terrible pregnancies and both had to take extra vitamins etc.

Pregnacare is the one my doctor recommended (along with the fish oil).

As lindt said my iron levels were always good too and I asked the mw right at the beginning if being veggie was an issue and she said it wasn't at all as long as you have a varied diet.

AND I did eat lots of sweets and that didn't do DD any harm

Sweetheart, if you want advice on diet, get your GP to refer you to a state registered dietitian. Which will be (a) free and (b) sensible.

Unless you were actually starving I fail to see the nutrition/miscarriage link, frankly.

FWIW in my first pregnancy I felt so sick for the first three months that the main thing I could stomach was Starbucks muffins, which were clearly so chemical that my body wasn't going to sniff out some kind of vaguely decaying organic matter. I was not exactly maintaining a Well Balanced Diet. The baby is now 11 and bursting with health

Hi, just wanted to add my voice to the vegetarians with healthy pregnancies. I have had 3 very healthy pregnancies and have 3 robustly healthy children all on a veggie diet - and my veggie diet is fairly healthy, but not crankily healthy iyswim.

I started to eat fish just after having my third child so call myself a pescetarian now (or just say 'I don't eat meat').

As far as I'm aware all/the vast majority of mainstream doctors agree that a vegetarian diet is perfectly fine for pregnancy.

I am so shocked that this osteopath / nutritionist guy has told you such nonsense. I have been veggie since I was 15 which is more than half my life and also don't eat eggs so I am between veggie and vegan. I had a perfectly normal pregnancy and no problem conceiving. I think you should ignore what he is saying as it is rubbish. Concentrate on having a healthy veggie diet (it sounds like you do anyway). And good luck with this pregnancy. There are so many reasons why pregnancies miscarry and most of the time there is nothing you can do about it, it is just not meant to be. Don't let anyone tell you that it was your fault which is what this quack was basically telling you.

I've been vegetarian for 22 years and have had two problem-free pregnancies. I'm no expert, but I understand that it is true that it is more difficult to get the full range of necessary proteins from vegetarian sources alone - but not impossible. If you're worried, perhaps you could ask your GP to refer you to a dietician who is likely to be more sympathetic to your commitment to vegetarianism? They would be able to help you identify any shortcomings in your diet without pressing you to eat meat.

Hello, another strict vegetarian here who has had two perfectly normal pregnancies/babies. Just figured the more people you hear about the more reassured you will feel so that's all really!

I've been vegetarian since childhood and had a perfctly healthy pregnancy apart from being anaemic (which I've since been told by several doctors was primarily down to undiagnosed ulcerative colitis and nothing to do with my diet at all). I now have a strapping vegetarian five-year-old who's the tallest in his year at school and has never been to the doctor!

Best of luck!!

I do think he's talking bollocks. Loads of women have early miscarriages and I have never once heard of it being ascribed to diet. Think about it - some women get hyperemisis, they throw up everything that goes into their body, but the baby sticks on in there.

If you happened to be worried about your protein levels, then eggs and pulses (lentils, chickpeas etc) are pretty good.

I agree you've been given pretty bad and insensitive advice.

I've had two easy pregnancies as a vegetarian. At the end of second pregnancy was a little low in iron and took an easily digested, pleasant tasting floral iron tonic (forget the name) Also took vege multi-vits and folic acid before conception.

I do occasionally eat fish now and if you decide you want to do that then I think that is quite a natural part of the human diet, but do whatever you feel is best. There are millions of healthy veggie babies conceived every year around the world - and millions of healthy veggie children and mothers !

All the best of luck to you.

Personally I'd be put off by his advice and seek other advice and support elsewhere

I have been veggie for over 20 years. 3 straightforward pregnancys and healthy babies, no miscarriages, no problems conceiving.

As a poster pointed out early, vast swathes of the world's population are vegetarian, including in India which is experiencing rapid population growth.

I am very sorry about your miscarriages and that you may have felt in some way 'blamed' for your diet, I would seek a second opinion.

Worth having a look at this on the causes and risk factors associated with miscarriage:

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Miscarriage/Pages/Causes.aspx

The only dietary factors it mentions are alcohol and excessive tea or coffee drinking.

My Dw is and was vegan throughout her pregnancy. She was vegan for 4 years b4. Our dd was born at term+3! at 8lb1oz and she is very healthy and being bought up a vegan.
Your 'nutritionist' is talking utter bollocks. as is anyone else who says you 'need; meat/fish in your diet. You dont.
See vegan society website also VIVA and animal aid for lots of healthy diet tips whilst pregnant and avoiding the slaughter of innocent creatures.

Guppy so sorry to hear about your mcs and what lovely news that you are pregnant again Good luck!

Another veggie here with a healthy 2.5 year old vegetarian DD. I'm now about 28 weeks pregnant and everything seems fine, iron levels are great and judging by the size of the bump and foetus, all growing okay. I mc'd my last pregnancy, but it undoubtedly had more to do with my age (I'm in my 40s) and bad luck than my diet. All the HCPs I've spoken to have never even questioned my diet.

At the moment I take a multi-vit and fish oil capsules, but would like to stop the latter as they are YUCK (and my one concession to pescatarianism!) in favour of either Udo's Choice oil or upping my intake of chia seeds and/or coconut oil - both of which are good natural sources of Omega 3 (and protein, in the case of the former).

Floradix is a good iron supplement for veggies - easily tolerated and doesn't tend to cause the constipation problems people get from other types.

All that said, I agree with the majority on here that diet is highly unlikely to have been a factor in your mcs and there is no reason to reproach yourself about them - there may be a biological reason, but it could just be bad luck. Hopefully this time, all will be well.

Just wanted to add my twopence worth too. Sorry about your mcs Guppie I am (hopefully that is past tense now) a recurrent miscarrier and I didn't want the info from Sweetpea and Iggi to be buried amongst all this excellent advice about diet. Obviously you are now pregnant again which is fabulous, but in the future if you ever have any more problems do consider looking at testing for high natural killer cells and blood clotting issues. These can often easily be treated with medication - something that has helped me stay pregnant this time (currently 34 weeks after 2 mcs in a row last year and 2 some years before that).

Two miscarriages in a row can of course be down to bad luck, and I do hope this pregnancy is the one that sticks for you. A vegetarian diet really has absolutely nothing to do with it and it really pisses me off when so-called professionals push their beliefs on you like that. I don't eat meat either and I only eat a tiny bit of fish but I can assure you that you would have to have a pretty hideous diet in order to be causing your own miscarriages. And you don't. Protein is great for energy levels but, speaking as someone who has researched this extensively for work and also followed a high protein but non-meat diet, you can get more than enough from pulses, nuts and dairy products. Iron levels are often lower in both meat eaters and vegetarians in pregnancy but again unless you were debilitatingly anaemic this is unlikely to have caused the miscarriages.

Having had three pregnancies in a row myself last year I can fully relate to how physically and emotionally exhausted you must be, not to mention nervous in this current pregnancy. Like sweetpea says I would advise taking 75mg of aspirin (this is controversial for some but in many cases has been shown to help maintain a healthy pregnancy and IMO it is well worth taking with no serious side effects at that low dosage), additional Vitamin D (an extra 25ug on what is in Pregnany vits), an extra 200ug of Selenium and also some sort of fish oil equivalent - like has been mentioned above Ugo or flaxseeds. I am not a doctor so others might disagree with me, but do your own research on the above recommendations and you should find they are not harmful and can have some great benefits.