"Are you allowed to eat that?"-weird food advice you've received when pregnant

[ChickenMe]

Hi

I've noticed that people love to tell us pregnant ladies what we can and can't do and no more so than when it comes to my favourite subject, food.

MIL, soon after being told I was expecting, exclaimed in a panic "eggs! You mustnt eat eggs!". Conversely she says it's fine to drink booze "so long as you don't get really drunk". Lol.

Upon mentioning tuna, prawns, fish, seafood in general Ive had "are you allowed that?" from several people. Poor condemned fish!

The funniest one was chatting to a woman at work and she says "grapefruit" in a rather stern way. Apparently it's not allowed.

I find it amusing that the above proscribed foods are all pretty healthy yet no one would blink an eye lid if I were to inhale Haribo or mainline Fanta for nine months (just don't eat eggs).

What ridiculous or hilarious food advice have you received from anxious well wishers?

I found two links about actual proper flu and bipolar disorder when I googled... Nothing about colds. I'd love to know who funded the research into that study.

Bit of scaremongering going on here!

venus are there seriously people who manage to get through 9 months of pregnancy without catching a cold?! now that is remarkable...

iliveonabuildsite where does your dh's nana live, I love a full English!

Are people really allowed to refuse you service because of what they think you should be eating?

mayonnaise. like hellmans. something to do with egg my sister was convinced I wasn't allowed to eat it. oh and buffet food like sausage rolls etc. nephews birthday was a blast I went down the chippy in the end coz I was so hungry she physically wouldn't let me have anything to eat at all! was convinced it would cause food poisoning!

My mum was shocked I wasn't meant to eat liver (not that I would anyway, yuck) as she was encouraged to eat it for the iron when pregnant both times in the 80s. guess things change a lot over the years. my gran who had her babies in the 50s was apparently told by a doctor to smoke because in his experience babies were smaller and as gran was tiny (4ft 10) he thought a tiny baby would be better for her. I was when aunt told me this a few years ago. "itll hurt less when its born" she was told. uh huh, yeah..... gran didn't like smoking made her feel ill so didn't in the end. probably for the best.

SIL , who was pregnant herself and should have known better, declared mushrooms (regular ones, not the happy kind) and Philadelphia to be on the banned list. No reason or evidence to back this up, and my explanation of pasteurisation just resulted in a blank look.

MIL, god bless her, turned up with a prawn sandwich shortly after having DS as she knows if my love of prawns and said "I know the last 9 months were hell for you pet, so enjoy!" Didn't have the heart to tell her I'd had bhuna prawns the week before :)

Butternut22, I think the person might have been confused with raspberry leaf tea which you aren't allowed to have until the last trimester, oh dear!

worse, if you'd actually read my post you'd see that I didn't eat the pate or the Brie.

I did have two small bits of Parma ham and four mussels. Mussels are fine, I had previously looked them up and made an informed decision after DH devoured an entire bowl in front of me in early pg and only let me have a spoonful of juice. I wanted to know if I was justified in being grumpy about it. I was.

And given that I have been gardening, cleaning out litter boxes and one one occasion eating nigh on raw BBQ meat (thanks Dad) by accident I think I'll risk a little Parma ham.

I've not had a glass of wine for six months ffs! Don't anger me! and yes, I know I can have a small one, but if I do the rest of the bottle will get drunk over the next few days too. I have little in the way of willpower

And thank you Pico2, I should really keep up with the thread

I think I'll have runny eggs for breakfast...

Citron I agree. Surely the person most likely to be up to date on the current advice and care about implementing it is the woman herself. So she should just be left to it!
Flu in pregnancy leads to a slightly higher risk of low birthweight and potentially stillbirth, which is why flu jab is recommended for pregnant women, plus getting the flu when you're pregnant would be awful.

The stuff you supposedly "can't" eat while breastfeeding is even more ridiculous!

No, beans and fizzy drinks can't get into your breasts and make the baby gassy

The risk assessment at my workplace banned me from using the microwave to heat my lunch. I kid you not.

This thread made me fancy pate! Thanks guys!

Goats cheese for lunch for me! Danger is my middle name.

After I had DS1, the midwife came to visit. DH (who has darker skin) was cooking dinner but opened the door as I was BF at that moment. Mw then looked at us both very seriously and asked if 'baby minded spicy milk.' Firstly, how would I know? He couldn't talk and was a few days old. Secondly, poor old DH was only making spag bol!

Haha desperately - she wouldn't let you eat it but was quite happy for the kids to all go home with a bout of food poisoning?!

My mother in law adored cooking roast beef (it was a talent of hers). She lived near a farm that bred cows - knew the source and used it regularly. I was really anaemic due to various illnesses (including swine flu) and was told by BIL that rare beef would be dangerous (toxoplasmosis). I was definitely prepared to take my chances on the cow in fact I went quite wild and ate about 5 slices on that day. It restored my iron levels and I believe was actually instrumental to the success of my pregnancy.

thumb, would that be because the white effectively is amniotic fluid?

OMG - I'm laughing so hard whilst eating a Reeses' Nut Bar (packed full of peanuts). YUM! I might have to get another. :)

I've not had anyone tell me what I can and can't eat. Although hubby gives me an awful look if I just want a sip of his beer... JUST A SIP... oh it was so good that I didn't care. Just enough to remind me of a Corona with Lime, but not enough to do any harm.

I have coffee and tea, but I've never drunk more than 1 cup a day - again with in guidelines. The newest guideline is no cured meats and freezing cold meats to ensure safety... This seems so extreme. I always eat them fresh and never eat more than a day opened etc... what is the problem really?

BUT the one thing that has annoyed me is people worried about the two cats we have. I am so surprised at the number of people who expect us to rehome our cats - including MIL. She is convinced that the baby will smell like milk and the cats will smother the baby.

And we are lucky enough to have a swimming pool and a pond. People seriously expect us to fill in both. We spent a fortune on the pool - and sprung another 25% of the price on an automatic safety cover which you can actually stand on. Pond will get a little fence or something... but really.... I'm not going to go an put locks on all the cupboards - except maybe those that contain harmful chemicals. My child will be taught no from a very early age and certainly won't be allowed to roam free from supervision like some I see out and about.

Yep, confuddled, that's about right :)

Jersey - please do get a fence with a proper gate for your pool. I live in Australia, the number of toddlers and small children who drown in pools is tragic and unnecessary - they have strict laws here now about fencing pools properly with safety gates - it's amazing how they still manage to bypass these sometimes.

Pond - not so worried about - but pools bother me.

Plenty of the toddlers who drown in ponds and pools are visitors/neighbours. Teaching your child 'no' won't necessarily prevent an accident.

What country are you in Jersey? I don't think your guidelines are the same as the UK ones.