How strict are you being with "banned" foods?

[DecaffTastesWeird]

Just interested to know the above really. Also, are you avoiding foods based on what your MW / HCP recommends, the NHS website or elsewhere? Thanks.

chunderella, yes, the NHS does advise that pregnant women avoid alcohol completely but "However, if they do choose to drink, to minimise the risk to the baby, we recommend they should not drink more than one or two units once or twice a week and should not get drunk" and "There is uncertainty about how much alcohol is safe to drink in pregnancy, but if a low level is consumed there is no evidence of harm to an unborn baby."

What exactly do you want them to say? The evidence isn't clear. They are trying to make a best guess recommendation so pregnant women can decide what to do with that information. No one is going to come round to your house to police it!

First baby I had zero alcohol, virtually no pate/soft cheese and kept my caffeine down to an absolute minimum. I'm pretty much keeping to that but have an occasional blip this time round. I've had a pint of Guinness, ate a deli roll with feta where I didn't know if it was pasteurised and have had a couple of McFlurrys.

The listeria thing gets me though because you can also get it from prepackaged sandwiches and salad. Where's the suggestion to avoid those?

Yep, still having my soft boiled egg for breakfast every day. During my 1st pregnancy I had sushi as well. Probably will again at some time for this one! I barely drink as is so alcohol is easy for me to avoid.

What's wrong with McFlurrys? NHS says soft ice cream is ok.

Based on the NHS guidelines absolutely nothing. I've not had one but that's because I'm indifferent to them anyway, if I wanted one I'd eat it!

The eggs are pasturised and machines cleaned regularly, I have seen McFlurries and Mr Whippy do seem to be something some people on here avoid but I have no idea why?!

I can't give up my morning coffee. Just the one a day. I've also changed from a rare steak to a medium rare.. Craving pate but not actually eaten any. Still have my eggs slightly runny. No alcohol as the smell makes me retch. Oh and had oysters when 6weeks and in denial of being pg with baby no4!! I'm 10w3d now. Once past first trimester, I guess I might have an occasional glass of wine, but I can't Even imagine ever feeling well enough to enjoy it atm.

Well in my first pregnancy I was told not to eat peanuts because my baby could develop an allergy, so I avoided them completely. Low and behold she is allergic to peanuts!

In this pregnancy I am eating peanuts, as I think the reason my first child is allergic is because I didn't eat them in pregnancy. No one else in mine or my partners families have allergies.

As for all the other things we are told not to eat or drink, I don't go near them.

The common myth re Mr Whippy ice cream is to do with the cleanliness of the machinery I think. I have avoided but never a hardship to have a magnum imstead! My attitude is if its so bad surely they should be made to clean them properly!

I'm being really strict. This is DC2 but I had several miscarriages, before having DC1. Rationally, I know that if I had another mc it's much more likely to be a genetic problem than because I ate a slightly runny egg but having been through the experience before I know that irrationally I would wonder whether I was to blame if I was to do anything 'against the rules'!

I've not been too strict, very limited booze and less caffeine. So what have I made myself ill on?? Innocent 'healthy' little dried apricots. Saw packet in M&S and had to have them, obviously I have no self control now pregnant so wolfed the lot and got gippy tummy . Can't win can you!!

I avoided alcohol until I was a good 14 weeks but felt so sick to begin with I couldn't have drank anyway. Now I just have a glass of wine once, perhaps twice aweek with a meal simply because the more I have, the more I will want to drink.

I'm still eating raw and soft eggs. I'm extra careful when cooking chicken and clean well after preparing meat to be cooked. I read that listeria can keep reinfecting the placenta, eventually causing miscarriage so I avoid anything that I know is more likely to carry it so no pate, certain cheeses, I'll only eat cured meats if they are very fresh. I'm also throwing away bags of salad if there are any leaves that look a bit wrong, before I would have just picked out the manky leaves!
As I read that ot can take four weeks for listeria to cause an infection, I will be treating myself to some pate and stilton at Christmas, when I'll be more than 8 months.

As Noodle says, the Mr Whippy avoidance thing is down to the ice-cream machines not being too clean along with the soft scoop not being made from pasteurised milk.

My question is who uses an ice-cream van and thinks it is clean? And since soft-scoop is as far away from actual ice-cream as stringy-cheese is from French brie, the actual milk content is almost zero. The fat content is really high, but milk content is really low.

McDonalds gets around any pregnancy concerns by having a fairly good cleaning rota on their McFlurry machines and using pasteurised milk derivatives.....mmmm...tasty!

I found that in the first trimester I was evangelical about following the rules. Second trimester I was careful, had the odd glass of wine / half pint of lager. Third trimester, I really couldn't give a stuff! I'm still avoiding pate (too much vitamin A - nowt to do with listeria), but everything else is now fair game (as long as its fresh).
I am more careful in my food prep, but that's no bad thing, my dh now listens and covers things with clingfilm in the fridge (something he refused to do before on account of wasting cling film). Our kitchen has never been so clean.

First meal post baby breast feeding (only a year and a bit to go then!) - rare steak, pate, a bucket of red wine. Followed by an unpasteurised soft cheese board.

OMG hang on a minute, nobody told me you have to keep avoiding all this stuff until you stop breastfeeding. Are you sure? Doesn't your own body get rid of any nasties rather than pass things on in your milk? I know you have to drink a lot of alcohol to get any in your breast milk.

I read the NHS guidelines and then use common sense.

So I have runny eggs (salmonella risk miniscule), two glasses of wine a week, peanuts (as I think it's better to expose baby to these), haggis weekly. I struggle to avoid caffeine. So I try to limit to one coffee per day.

I know I'm not immune to toxo, so I cook the arse out of my meat, and am really careful washing salad. I also don't risk soft cheese because of listeria.

catsofa nah - it's much better when breastfeeding. I think you need to watch alcohol, caffeine and fish with mercury in it like tuna/swordfish. You don't need to worry about weird and wonderful infections, thank goodness (or at least, I don't!!)

Even with alcohol, you can avoid feeding for a few hours after. I found caffeine really did upset my babies though -as did aspartame - so I stayed off them

It's the bucket of wine I'm avoiding until the end of breast feeding - it's really made me question wether I have a drink problem the amount of time I spend fantasising about a really oaky, deep rich red wine!

That's really interesting rooners, how do you know your not immune to toxo?

I stupidly got my face scratched by a stray cat two weeks ago so rang nhs 24 to ask for advice, they said to rush straight to A&E incase of toxo. It was a Friday night so I decided against it. I'm still here and have had no Ill effects, perhaps the cat didn't have it or I am immune.

Phew!

I keep fantasising about rich fruity red wine too, I think I was actually drinking rather a lot more than I realised before I got pregnant.

I had a week off alcohol and was surprised how hard it was and how much I was craving, so I made it two weeks. Then I was a day late so took a pregnancy test just in case before going out for a bottle of wine to reward myself for two weeks off alcohol... and it was positive!

Come to think of it red wine is quite iron-rich, so it's possible that it's more iron my body really wants, having possibly previously got a significant amount of its total requirements from all the wine I used to drink!

ffalada I wouldn't even have thought a cat scratch could pass on toxo?! I thought it was just cat poo from infected cats...

Anyway, I had some post viral fatigue just before having kids and they did a tonne of random blood tests which includes toxo. I couldn't believe I wasn't immune as I grew up with outdoor cats, constantly cleaned up cat poo (and was often scratched...)

I think the main way to get toxo is undercooked lamb and venison or dirty salad (all of which I have accidentally consumed this pregnancy )

I fantasise about wine too (and it's only 3 days till my next glass :) )

Just looked it up and there's hardly anything you have to avoid. Isn't it just easier and less stressful to not eat certain unusual foods and to cool food properly? Obviously caffeine and smoking are harder as they are addictive.

I am being super strict - 1st baby and ttc for 20 months. Anyway, I thought cottage cheese was ok so just are an almighty portion then I read 'as long as it's pasteurised'. How the heck do I known of it's flipping pasteurised!?! Any ideas anyone?

Sorry, I know that I sound like a but case (probably the no wine, caffeine, goats cheese, pate, black pudding, haggis, fish (yes really), rare meat is taking its toll)!

I'm 15+4.

If you bought it from a supermarket it will be pasteurised cottage cheese.

Thank you better. Really thanks. I'm exhausting myself! It was morrisons nu me. Thanks againx

I don't think I avoided anything either time - DS1 I went completely off wine (which is how I knew I was pregnant) but drank a few beers each week, drank coffee and tea once I got over my sickness, and there is no way on this earth I was deviating from my medium steak.

With DS2 I had no such aversion to wine so continued to enjoy a couple of glasses a week.

I think the only thing I avoided was pate because it's gross I ignored the "you can't have that" police, gave them death stares and did my own thing. I found it more stressful to worry about what I could and couldn't have.

I can totally see that stroke. I'm being so strict and suffering a little with ms. At the dinner table tonight with my cottage cheese - which is the first food I'd been excited about for months! - DH said 'is it not just like goats cheese.' He knows I'm not eating goats cheese as I lament it so much. I honestly wanted to cry / throw up / throw my plate at the window. Instead I googled and posted here but it was a close call ... And totally unnecessary stress!!

Still I abstain...