Pregnant vegetarian. Should I eat meat ?

[kirstenn123]

As mentioned above , I'm pregnant & also a vegetarian , for around 14 years.

I always said I'd eat meat if I fell pregnant ( never thinking it would happen ) but now I don't know if I can.

Alongside the cruelty towards animals , meats never appealed to me , the smell alone can make me feel queasy even when I'm not pregnant.

I've tried researching it but it's either yes do meat or no don't eat meat.

Does anyone have experience of this situation or any advice ?

Thanks ladies ☺️

No reason to eat meat if you usually have a healthy diet. I would think drastically changing your diet wouldn’t be a good idea.

I'm vegetarian and have been for nearly 20 years. My 12 weeks blood test results were excellent according to my midwife so I feel no need to eat meat (I would have eaten fish if my blood tests had shown me deficient in anything but they showed the opposite).

The only thing I'm concerned about is protein so am having protein shakes everyday but a very healthy pregnancy so far so don't eat meat unless you want to, it's very possible to have a healthy pregnancy without. My mum had 3 healthy vegetarian pregnancies, my grandma has 8 children and she was vegetarian her whole life, she lived to the ripe old age of 102!

No. Why would you?! Just eat a balanced diet

No, not if you don't want to.

Check with your GP. Iincrease your dairy intake if you feel that would help. But otherwise, there's no need that I'm aware of

I’ve had two vegetarian pregnancies, both totally healthy and normal. My iron dropped a little second time around, but they monitor it and it was never worryingly low.

As long as you eat a balanced diet and have plenty of protein you’re fine.

Why would you? What is your diet missing that you can only obtain through meat?

I was vegetarian throughout all of mine and the only thing I had to do was up my iron intake. And I didn't need to eat animals to do that!

If you want to eat meat, have at it, but there is no should and you are not harming your baby by not doing so. Talk to your midwife.

I'm a FTM and have been vegetarian for the last 25 years or so.

My (meat-eating) OH and I have had many a discussion over this as he basically thought I should eat meat through pregnancy to ensure baby gets everything it needs. His point was that my mother ate meat, his mother ate meat etc and the baby isn't choosing to be veggie so should be given a varied diet with all the nutrients it needs to get the best start, just like we were.

I wasn't necessarily adverse to the idea but my body had other plans and started throwing up at the very thought/look/smell of meat (especially red meat). As a compromise, I've taken pregnancy multi vitamins throughout pregnancy and taken extra care with my iron levels.

I'm now 32+4 and baby is growing just as she should be despite the vegetarian diet.

Plants are full of protein 😊
Just be really conscientious about your diet, lots of beans, lentils and veg. Take a pregnancy vitamin 👍🏻
Have a happy pregnancy

20+ years veggie here and wouldn't for a minute consider changing my values during pregnancy. Not only am in veggie because of the animal welfare side of things, I also believe a veggie diet is far healthier. You can get all you need and more from a plant based diet.

As long as you eat healthily and ensure you're having a balanced diet you will be fine. Iron is the one thing veggies usually worry about, so why not use a vitamin to top up?

We absolutely plan to bring our baby up as a vegetarian too.

I'm vegetarian and had a terrible diet throughout pregnancy (due to morning sickness), but apart from needing some Spatone for iron towards the end everything was absolutely fine. DS was born a healthy weight and is big for his age despite nobody in our family eating meat. Just do the best you can nutrition-wise but it is totally your call

I should point out that my meat-eating DSis also needed iron supplements during her pregnancy so don't think that's something that's limited to vegetarians

My parents are both vegetarian and have been since before me and my siblings were born. We are all super healthy! I would say though that it takes some extra work to maintain a good balanced diet as a vegetarian. I have it up a few years ago because I'm too lazy and was basically just eating pasta and tomato sauce. My mum is a great cook and makes really varied, hearty, nutritious stuff. It can definitely be done though!

@IamC I'll be raising my little one vegetarian too. DH is a meat eater but I genuinely believe a vegetarian diet is the healthiest diet, so will be raising the baby veggie. If they choose to meat eat when they get older, that's up to them and will be happy for them to do as they feel is best.

My kids are third generation vegetarians and are fit as fiddles. No evidence to suggest vegetarian diet is in any way problematic, nor to suggest that a meat-containing diet is somehow better.

I'm flexitarian (hate the word but it's easiest to describe my eating preferences) with a preference for vegetarian. Normally I would eat meat once a month-ish and fish once every couple of weeks.

I have are meat a little bit more frequently in pregnancy, mostly in my first and second trimester when I was struggling with fatigue a bit more. It didn't really make much of a difference. I'm eating fish about once a week, again I don't think it particularly makes a difference.

As long as you are feeling OK and getting all your needs from your diet I wouldn't say you necessarily need to introduce meat into your diet. I'm taking pregnancy vitamins and omega3 supplements. I have also switched my yoghurt to skyr for an extra source of protein. When I could only eat fruit and rice crackers during the first trimester I found some rice crackers with added protein. Otherwise I've stuck with my usual diet. My bloods at 28 weeks were broadly the same as my booking bloods and midwife has no concerns.

Of course you shouldn’t. You can have a perfectly healthy pregnancy as a vegan or vegetarian. Probably even more so than the mums eating animals products full of saturated fat and antibiotics.

If you feel it's morally wrong you should not do it - ever. It can't be 'a bit' morally wrong. Plus you can make sure you get all you need in other ways. Might just need a bit of research and planning.

No need! It’s perfectly possible to have a healthy vegetarian diet. You don’t need meat so why eat it?

I've been vegetarian my whole life & have been pregnant 3 times. Each pregnancy was healthy & so were/are each of my 3 vegetarian children. I also breastfed each of them (health visitor told me I wouldn't be able to due to being vegetarian!)

My DMum has been vegetarian since age 13 she also had 3 of us & we're all still vegetarian!

No need for meat.

@Pinktruffle absolutely agree with that. I think it should be a choice. And when they are old enough to understand then they can make an informed decision. They'll have to cook it themselves though 😂😂😂

I heard an amazing thing on Radio Four yesterday. Apparently, a study has shown that vegetarian women are more likely to have girl babies than to have boys. I'd love to know it that's really true. How many vegetarians on here have had girls?

I always said I'd eat meat if I fell pregnant

I don't understand - why?

Did you not think a vegetarian diet can sustain a foetus?

There’s no reason to eat meat if you don’t want to - you can get all the nutrients you need from a healthy vegetarian diet. You might also upset your digestion if you start eating meat now after not having it for years.

If it helps, I’m vegan and all my midwife told me was to keep up with my normal regime of b12 and iron supplements that I take anyway (plus folic acid obviously).

Here is the NHS guidance, which is also helpful: www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/vegetarian-and-vegan-mums-to-be/

I was vegetarian (now vegan) and had two healthy pregnancies and girl babies who are now in their twenties who were brought up vegetarian and are now vegan. Neither has had any significant illness or health condition.

It’s rather silly to start eating meat for the sake of pregnancy. A balanced vegetarian diet is normally healthier.

Why would you? Especially if you don't even want it? Interesting about girl babies though. This is my third and I've been veggie all my life..