Vegetarians eating meat whilst pregnant?

[Rainbow555]

I have been a vegetarian for just under 20 years and I am wondering about eating meat. I am not sure if it is a craving as such but I keep thinking about chicken!
Also, I am struggling with fruit and veg and my meat free vegetarian food (at 12 weeks now) so I am eating a lot of carbs and getting sick of them too. I can't help but think that meat could help fill my hunger better.

Just wondering if any vegetarians are thinking the same or has started eating meat

Amy83 - if you can't crave something you've never had, how come some women get cravings to eat coal, dirt and weird stuff like that?

mrspatmustard damn good point!!!!

Isn't the common thinking that most cravings of that ilk are due to some sort of deficiency?

For any vegetarians/vegans with anaemia cashew nuts have more iron in them then the same weight of beef.

The problem is that the iron found in non-meat products is not as easily absorbed, as it's in a non-haem form - so even though the iron content may be higher, your body may not be able to get the iron as easily.

Having fruit juice high in vitamin C can help absorption of iron. Avoiding tea/coffee (even decaf) at the same time as food is also important, as they inhibit absorption.
I thought I ate a good amount of foods high in iron as a vegetarian, and was still anaemic, so clearly it was not enough. If I took vitamins though, I stayed well.

I've been vegetarian for 20 plus years and have never been anaemic. When I was pregnant my iron levels were higher than what would be expected in a typical pregnancy and stayed that way throughout. Even after a significant loss of blood during delivery my iron levels were still ok and recovered quickly.

I didn't have any cravings for meat, but did want to have a lot of orange juice during the first four months or so.

I eat a normal vegetarian diet and don't particularly try and eat high iron sources. I do take a daily multivitamin and have done for quite a while.