Interesting article from the Guardian on pregnancy guidelines

[bumperlicious]

Here. Not trying to be controversial , though feel free to debate away! Just though it might interest some people.

Great stuff, Bumperlicious - thanks

i agree whole heartedly

Thank you! I didn't see this but had done my own research into the listeriosis thing when pg. Didn't dare suggest to anyone else that it may be a bit overstated though since the depriving yourself of many nice things to eat while with child appears to be the stamp of "good mother" in some circles..

superb
bet her midwives love her

I esp liked "Who do you think knows better, a doctor, or a Danish study?"

I have to admit at Christmastime My bil put a camenbert in to the oven until it was warm and we had it as a dip. Initially I said I can't have any but then I thought it is cooked, (even thought it was probably not hot enough to kill bugs) and I really enjoyed it. I also had stilton on toast under the grill until bubbling a few times but in the end decided I couldn't be bothered with the hassle of that one. I do think that the whole thing is a bit overestimated but all the same I did steer clear most of the time. Funny how you want it soooo much more when pregnant. PS Ds was born in March and he has everything he should and nothing he shouldn't!

I read that article and she's quite right.

ps, max - you can eat pateurised camembert you know, and if it was bought from a supermarket it probably was.

well, you can eat whatever you like of course but even the government say pasteurised camembert is OK.

I read this this morning and thought it was brilliant - when I saw the headline I was expecting the usual anecdotal personal experience journo-stuff with zero research (except maybe the odd quote from here ) and/or some pseudo-intellectual think piece about society's attitudes to pregant woman (always written by pg journos ie society;s attitude to me) but it was great. well researched, well written, entertaining and informative. I just wish she hadn;t bothered debunking the cat poo myth. I've done well re cat-litter duties out of my two pregnancies and I doubt there are many women who would have minded if she'd just kept that one to herself.

So glad that somebody has finally said what I've been thinking ....

Fantastic article! I feel like printing it off and shoving it in the faces of everyone who dares comment on what I am eating!

Do people really comment on what you're eating? This never happened to me when I was pregnant with ds. Perhaps my friends are just too ignorant to pass comment If they did I would roundly tell them to get stuffed.

Great article, really underlines how pg women are treated like we lose our common sense when we are pregnant! And also how confusing some of the advice can be!

Phew, glad this went down well, was expecting a backlash! I can understand why some people do want to follow the guidelines to the letter, after all if there is even a small risk why take it?

But I think most pg women's problems with these regulations is being told what to do by so many different people (who's opinions all differ), and being judged by everyone, even people you work with. Very few women would deliberately put their baby or even themselves at risk, people have to trust to do what we think is best. Trouble is you become public property when pg.

Great article. During my first pregnancy we were in Italy, and my ever conscientious obstetrician never actually mentioned listeria (she was pregnant as well at the time and partial to sushi), while I got monthly checked for toxoplasmosis, as in Italy there is a wider consumption of parma ham and salame.

Great article

Also advice differs depending on your country. I work in a really international place and remember a lunch with 3 friends, one French, one Japanese one Indian, 2 of them preg. The French girl couldnt believe the no alcohol rule (she was adamant that wine didnt count!), the Japanese girl was outraged that we were advised not to eat sushi/smoked salmon and the Indian girl was shocked to hear some pregnant women here avoid hot curries.

Although my mother in law serving home made cheese cake made with raw eggs when I was 6 months pregnant was quite impressive. Halfway through it the raw egg thing occurred to me and I asked her if it had them in. She answered "no its fine, there are eggs in it. Which are not cooked"?!?!

LOL Kerala.
Maybe other countries are shocked that we are allowed to eat fish and chips and roast beef & Yorkshire pudding.

and in Italy they are still more laid back re ... brace yourself... smoking

I had a toasted brie sarnie at my desk last pregnancy...you'd think I had sat down, snorted a line of cocaine and downed a bottle of absinthe from the horrified comments I got.

Don't ask what happened when I tried to be 'healthy' and ate a packet caeser salad.....but basically it resulted in a disciplinary meeting for swearing at people

I ate blue and soft cheese throughout my pregnancies - but avoided liver for precisely the reasons in that article. it was not eating the cheese per se that is problematic - it is only a problem if you get listeria and the chances of that are extremely small. an excess of vit A however is going to happen if you trough on liver pate. I have to admit that I didn;t research it as thoroughly as she did, but my instinct was spot on! (I still stand by my comment about the cat litter though...)

It said on the teletext news there was salmonella found on fresh basil so prepacked herbs will be next, you mark my words.

midwife told me that salmonella doens't have any bad effect on baby...