Ate liver pate... help!

[Eliza1986]

Morning all! Just looking for some advice - I'm 26 weeks pregnant and yesterday I ate a small amount of chicken liver pate before finding out it's on 'the list'... I feel like such an idiot and have googled it all night. Naturally I'm in a panic now, presuming I'll end up with listeriosis which will inevitably cause serious harm to baby!! I called the local birth centre and they just said "don't have any more". Helpful 
Has anyone been in this position before? I'm thinking of asking for a blood test at my m/w appt at 28 weeks, but not sure they'll do anything if I don't have any symptoms and just present as neurotic and paranoid! Any thoughts would be helpful 

I think if it was a one off and you're not feeling unwell you'll be fine. It's also the vitamin A, which is found in liver that you need to avoid, but if it was such a small amount I think it's unlikely to have done anything.
Some people drink, smoke and eat all kinds through pregnancy. You wpuld be extremely unlucky for a little bit of pate to do harm.

Thank you for replying
That's what makes it so annoying. I've been so careful otherwise. Pate isn't something I'd normally eat so I guess I didn't retain it when reading the "what not to eat" list.
I just get myself into such a spin with this kind of thing, and google is seriously the worst! I just think, if it was so dangerous and seemingly fairly common (apparently it's in water and dust!), why isn't it tested for routinely??

Don't worry! It's on "the list" because it has a higher risk of carrying listeria than "solid" meat but commercially produced pate is still very safe. I've eaten it my whole life and never got listeria! Liver pate also is high in vitamin a, which currently is considered a "be careful" nutrient - whereas our grandmothers were told to eat liver (washed down with Guinness no less) yes we know more now but you would think pregnancy was a new thing with all these rules (many that differ from when I was pregnant!)

I CRAVED pate during the early months even though I had horrible food aversions. I didn’t cave until Christmas when I had a little portion from a brand newly opened packet which had just been bought (not that I expect that would actually lessening the risk). Apparently the too much vitamin A thing comes from a few decades ago when offal, liver etc was much more widely eaten. Unless you’re chowing down on blocks of pate chased down by haggis and followed by liver and onions I don’t think the vit A thing is a concern. In terms of the listeriosis, if you continue to feel well, you will be absolutely fine. For what it’s worth, I’ve had D& V twice in this pregnancy -11wcand 30 w - despite being fastidious about food and personal hygiene - and baby is being born tomorrow (ELCS) absolutely fine. Easy to say but try not to fret x

Midwife should of told you what not to eat at first appointment

Thank you for the replies ladies. It was homemade in a restaurant (so their menu says but when we called to ask they said they were busy and ended the call...)

I think I'll be mindful of symptoms but will seriously try not to obsess. That kind be good for baby either!

And good luck for tomorrow Blondiecub. So exciting!! Our ELCS is happening in May

First midwife appointment she said "do you know what not to eat". I said I did as this is my second pregnancy and I thought I knew what I was doing, hence the feeling like an idiot now

@helsvamp the OP has explained that she knows about ‘the list’ but as she never eats pate that piece of information didn’t stick in her head.

I caved at Christmas and had some delicious liver pate, chunk of brie and tiny glass of red wine... enjoyed every bloody morsel.
Confessed to my midwife a few days later, when she asked how i had got on over Christmas with all the yummy stuff, she told me:
Soft foods (cheeses, pates etc) have a 'higher' risk of listeria (which is rare in the UK) and food poisoning. As long as you follow good food hygine RE storage and know where it is from, the risk is overall minimal as lots of the ladies suggest earlier. By the way, most 'homemade' pates in restaurants will come from a supplier so don't read too much into that but i would always ask.
Liver is high in VitA which can, 'increase' the risk of premature labour. One or two mouthfuls as occadsional indulgance won't have any effect.
Years ago mothers were encouraged to eat vitamin rich liver and drink stout.
Ladies in France, Italy and around the world stuff their faces with all sorts and deliver perfectly healthy babies.

She laughed and told me not to worry 😁

Thanks @39Suzy that helps! I'll definitely tell my m/w and I'm hoping for a similar reaction

Ladies in France, Italy and around the world stuff their faces with all sorts and deliver perfectly healthy babies.

They really don’t. The advice there is almost exactly the same as the advice here, and in some cases is more restrictive (French women are told not to eat ready-grates cheese, for example). Some women follow the government advice and some choose not to, just as in the U.K.

Nevertheless you will be absolutely fine, OP.

@thanksithaslockets the point was that countries outside the UK ( i have lived in and visited whilst pregnant) take a more pragmatic view (with many women carryong on eating their occassional goie gras). Some of my worldly friends find the NHS guidelines laughable (which changes every five minutes anyway depending on who you speak to)... and yet statistcally, the UK still has one of the highest rates of stillbirth in the developed world.

As someone who has been part of those statistics, i would take some of the NHS guidelines in terms of what you can and can't eat with a pinch of salt and do the research to establish the actual reason and risk to make your own view.

I did the same and had the very same Google driven freak out. Everything was fine....you would have to be very unlucky to get listeria. It is so rare now in the UK. I know many people who eat all the foods on the banned list and they have all been fine. Personally not something I would do...I was very careful but ate a tonne of fish Patè thinking that was ok....but it carries the same risk as meat Patè. I was so worried...helped to rationalise it by thinking I have eaten the banned foods all my life with no adverse effects...so chances of getting something in the 9 months of being pregnant is so low.

Try to forget about this...now my boy is here I very much regret all the worrying i did about things like this and wish I had just enjoyed it x

I understood your point @39Suzy, and I’m sorry for your loss.

As I said I agree with your broad point that most women take the guidelines with a pinch of salt and make their own judgements. I was correcting the perpetual myth that official advice in Europe is any different to the U.K., which is one of those nuggets which refuses to die. The main material difference is that in those countries women are routinely screened for toxoplasmosis and therefore know if they are immune and can eat cured and rare meats with impunity. France isn’t a great comparison as they are one of the few wealthy countries with a stillbirth rate even higher than the U.K.

OP, the book Expecting Better is particularly helpful to enable you to assess risk and make a judgement on what you choose to eat and avoid for the rest of your pregnancy.

Thanks @Hopehope20 it's comforting to know I'm not the only one who had a google freak out! 
And thanks @ThanksItHasPockets I'll give it a go

OP, if you want to choose a subject to worry about, Listeriosis should be well down your list. The incidence is “highest” in London at just 1 case per 200,000 people. And that’s ALL people, including the pate and soft cheese munchers! Across the rest of the U.K. the incidence varies to as low as 1 in 500,000.
Of course you don’t want to take any avoidable risk in pregnancy, but this one is really far too low to be worth losing sleep over one helping of pate. Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy, and best wishes for the birth!

Thank you @Babdoc that's really good to know!