Foods in Pregnancy

[Lazylou]

Just found out that I am 4 weeks pg with DC2 and was wondering what foods to go for and what to avoid? Things have changed so much since I had DD (3.8), plus I had a mc 3 years ago, so I'm trying to do what I can to make sure everything is ok. Any advice would be great. TIA

midwife told me......
General rule of thumb, if you would give it to your 85 years old granny, then it is safe for you. Avoid anything that may give you and upset tummy, not forgetting that you are more sensitive now....

nuts to be avoided if anyone close suffers from allergy of any thing.

Don't forget to take your pregnacare tablets or sim

Good luck xXx

Thanks! Bought Pregnacare tablets plus the Omega 3 ones today so I've made a start on those. I don't do nuts anyway so that won't be too much of a problem.

Avoid soft cheese, blue cheese, shellfish, pate (liver), uncooked/undercooked eggs, homemade mayo, nuts, hmmm gone blank.

blugh load of codswallop if you ask me (and some good evidence)....COI 28 weeks and bloody eating what I like!

for some absolutely bizaar reason, I looked at this website during first pregnancy and was super careful abou what O ate, but 14 months later for secon d pregnancy ate everything, soft stinking cheese, soft eggs, and ll fine. Won't bother with restricted diet next time either!

Yes should probably point out this is my second (1st is 6 so am older and wiser) but was neurotic first time ....

Hi Lazylou - I think you have to be sensible about what you eat, and bramblinas list just about covers it.

Yes you can eat what you want and probably be absolutely fine, but I personally would not advise taking a risk with foods likely to be high in listeria especially, which are mainly the soft cheeses / dairy / eggs etc.

As a midwife I have seen at least 3 babies die of listeriosis, which have all been put down to eating dairy produce. Sorry, I dont mean to scare you, as I have probably met 10s of thousands of pregnant women in my career whose babies have been completely fine, so 3 is not many.

But I still wouldn't take the chance.

All the best for your pregnancy

Mintpurple any chance of a link to the evidence of baby deaths from listeria....personally (I am medical) have done extensive searches and have fond NO evidence for deaths or damage from listeria...
Not being hard but am afraid it is this kind of anecdotal scaremonegring which causes neurotic terrified mums who blame themselves if anything goes wrong (as it can)..
I would expect a baby death from listeria in this century to make the news and front page of the Daily Mail!

macdoodle - no links Im afraid, these were cases which occurred in the labour wards that I have worked in over the past 20+ years found postmortem, high levels of listeria and good history from parents of eating food likely to be high in listeria.

All between 25 - 35 weeks, and none made the papers. If you are in the medical profession you will know that not even a fraction of what we see in hospitals make the papers!

It is hardly scaremongering, but simply pointing out personal observations which I have made over the years, so of course, I have no hard facts from these cases to back me up, just as you have no proof that eating listeria will not cause listeriosis, nor should we have to prove ourselves on a mumsnet posting

The OP has asked for any advice and I have given her my advice, as have you - now she can decide herself.

Thank you for your advice. This is my second child and I was pretty over the top with the first one. I want to be careful obvioiusly, but I don't want to stress myself out either. I think I am going to do as I did the first time re soft cheese, liver pate etc.

I really appreciate your comments. Thanks again

I'm with macdoodle on this one and I'm 38 wks pg (1st baby). That's not to discredit the terrible cases mintpurple has seen. Obviously diseases like salmonella and listeriosis are to be avoided like the plague in pregnancy but, having said that, I don't think they're that common in this country. I'm pretty sure that on the continent women aren't advised to avoid a lot of the things that we avoid here (soft cheeses etc).

My personal take on it all is just to use common sense and avoid foods that are usual suspects in food poisoning (eg. dodgy meat or fish, shellfish, foods past their sell by date etc). That's just me though.

There were some threads on this topic recently and there were some links posted to government guidelines on what preggers women should eat. Can't remember the websites though.

great article here

society.guardian.co.uk/health/story/0,,2090058,00.html

three cases of listeriosis in UK in last ten years. one from cheese, one from lettuce and one from butter!

my SIL (also pg) reckons it only 9 months of her life to give LO best possible start. commendable stuff and i really respect her dilligent attitude, but can't say that means i'll be avoiding soft cheese til someone shows me the science

sorry - just re-read article and it's two, not three, cases of listeriosis in the uk in the last 20, not 10, years

I read somewhere (US CDC website? Something from the US gov't, anyway) that they had determined that soft cheeses were all right if made with pasteurized milk. Since then, I've been eating brie and blue cheese, just checking that it wasn't made with raw milk.

I haven't been especially careful about other things since the 1st trimester, just trying to get a balanced diet, more milk than usual, and drinking gallons and gallons of water.

I'm in the US where, I think, they tend to be more cautious. I was told not to eat:

soft cheese (unless pasteurized), blue cheese, pate (too much vitamin A), deli meats (no idea why), shellfish, undercooked/ raw eggs, nuts (apparently may cause allergies in baby)

Congrats btw

add to the list: raw/undercooked meat/fish( (toxoplasmosis as well as salmonella listeria) and alcohol obviously.

am also pg (7wks) with N.2
I avoid undercoocked food and make sure that if I eat soft cheese it is pasteurized.
There are a few lapses here and there. As someone said, I'm less neurotic this time round.

Take vitamins and omegas and live yogurt and be happy.

congrats.

liver (too much vit A)

With brie and blue cheeses the issue is not pasteurisation, but the mould, which has ideal conditions for listeria. So it should be avoided even if pasteurised (sorry - hate the stuff myself, so it was no sacrifice for me). It should, however, be safe if you heat it until bubbling (e.g. under the grill), because listeria is very susceptible to heat.

Raw and undercooked meat can contain both listeria and toxoplasmosis. There are far more toxoplasmosis cases from meat than from cat poo.

The danger with eggs is salmonella more than listeria. Salmonella does not affect the baby directly but can damage it indirectly through high fevers etc.

tyaca - I have just read some of the article, and although it seems well researched, it is quite poorly written.

The example I will give regarding listeriosis is where the author states that there have been 2 outbreaks in the UK in the past 20 years, and then contradicts herself a couple of paragraphs later by saying that the last available figures for England and Wales 'for listeriosis were 2.7 cases per million' or approx 130 cases per year in the UK???

'This risk is not negligible - tolerable risk is defined by the government as one in a million' her own words.

Maybe its just a poorly written article, but it sounds more of a rant to me than a serious piece of journalism.

Ultimately its up to each individual to decide what is an acceptable risk for themselves in what they eat.

Mintpurple, thanks so much for your comments. I read these threads with interest but usually never reply...we all know or have been told what foods to avoid during pregnancy it is totally up to each mother to- be to follow this advise or not. What really upsets me is those who chose not to follow the guidelines basically call those of us who do neurotic and over protective!! it's almost as though they are trying to justify eating runny eggs by saying that nothing has happened to them so its fine to eat. Personally, I'm happy to go without for 40 weeks, after all, if everything was fine to eat, then there would be no guidelines given to us by the medical profession telling us what not to eat.

[teenyweeny} are we having a bad day dear?

As far as I can see here macdoodle and myself have not called anybody but OURSELVES neurotic. Lighten up!

No, not at all, I was not referring to you at all. If you look back at these food threads, you will see what I mean, especially comments made by a certain fish.

As regards advice on the continent - I am in france and am toxo negative. I have a monthly blood test to confirm negative status and have been told to steer clear of undercooked meats, tartare, foie gras, cured meats and charcuterie, especially artisanal.

The advice given here regarding listeria is the same as that in the uk - well washed vegetables, no raw milk products, no moulded or soft rind cheeses (even if pasturised, the problem is with the rinds, not the cheese itself).

No oysters, raw or reheated seafoods/shellfish, smoked salmon or sushi.

Interesting, even the French are now saying no to alcohol during pg.

Personally, I have read the articles and all the research on listeria/salmonella/foetal damage and have come to the personal conclusion that I am totally responsible for what my unborn child is exposed to and as such do not feel that 9 months of avoidance of certain food groups is too great a hardship, and I "follow the rules".

This is an interesting and heated thread. I am pregnant for 4th time and following dietary exclusions. What I would say, having lost a baby half way through to causes unknown, is that you always believe that stuff like that won't happen to you until it does. I don't want to scaremonger or be over cautionary, I just believe that anything that maximises your chance of a healthy baby is damn good idea (even if its your mental health by doing it by the book). Besides 9 months is not that long to go without these foods in the grand scheme of things. My advice would be to exercise caution.

teeniweeny, just joking, I know what you're getting at.

Melmanmouse, very true. Sorry for your loss. A friend of mine had M/C at 4 months due to toxoplasmosis.
Better safe than sorry.