Pink burger, toxoplasmosis

[howmanyroads]

Feeling so upset with myself over this. I bit in to a burger today, realised it was pink and for some reason carried on eating it anyway. I can't believe I did that when I've feared getting toxoplasmosis all year (had a miscarriage in March, this is my second pregnancy) and I've been so so careful til now.

I don't think midwife or GP will take me seriously enough to refer for a blood test, do you think it's worth arranging a private blood test (not that I know how to go about that)?

I'm 17 weeks tomorrow.

@howmanyroads

You need to calm down it's incredibly incredibly rare to get it via beef. It's a lot higher in things like cat litter.
You'll be fine, the stress you're giving yourself is worse than the beef! Xx

I understand why youre feeling upset but the chances of any problems are very very slim. If you know what symptoms to look out for then I would say you don’t need to take any actions - obviously that’s a personal view but it’s worth remembering how rare toxoplasmosis is and that in many countries there isn’t the same advice against pink/red meat.

Tbh most restaurants and supermarkets will freeze their meat at some point which (I think) kills off most nasties that we worry about. Only pretty gourmet places will have truely fresh off the farm products

Are you normally this anxious OP?

Please don't request a blood test, it'll only fuel your anxiety and need for more confirmation in the future.

You'll be fine.

I think you're overthinking this massively. A gentle get a grip to you!

I ate steak that was pink in the middle while pregnant and although it was rarer than I intended I didn't give it a second thought.

I committed other food misdemeanours on occasion as well.

The individual risk of contracting any one of these food-related illnesses is tiny.

OP I had the exact same situation! I had no idea the restaurant had the pink burger policy until I'd already bitten into it! Looked online to find that cooking burgers pink is actually generally ok (providing the restaurant has the control measures in place) though not ideal when pregnant. If it's their normal practice and there's no outcry / HSE notice for issues then you really shouldn't worry about it. I was fine after mine (not a guarantee obvs and I did send it back and request one cooked through after the initial couple of bites) and daughter is now a happy, healthy 19 mth old if that's any peace of mind for you. If in doubt though, speak to your midwife.

Last pregnancy i had a couple of medium rate steaks. They were pink. Babys now 10 months and fine. Pregnant again now but no steak so far haha. X

Thank you everyone you've all reassured me massively!

And yes I am a very anxious person but usually manage to talk myself down

The odds of getting toxoplasmosis are something like 1 in 100,000 - please don’t worry!

I did exactly the same thing while out for dinner tonight, didn’t even give it a second thought! You’ll be fine, try to forget about it.

You wouldn't need to get tested unless you showed symptoms of toxoplasmosis which is highly unlikely.

I understand the anxiety; when I was about 14 weeks pregnant with DD I ate a whole serving of bufala mozzarella at an italian restaurant and then later realised it had been unpasteurised. I was beside myself with worry for several days and eventually spoke to the GP who told me to calm down and that it would be fine. Which it was!

I actually asked my GP about this today (because I hadn't realised about the washing vegetables thing) and she told me most people in this country have toxoplasmosis as children because we play outdoors! (You can't get it twice.) She said it was totally unnecessary to worry. Made me feel much better (and hopefully will you too).

@catladyy that's really good to know thank you! I've also always had cats and had a phase of eating salami every day as a child so if that burger was the first time I'd been exposed to it that would be the most ridiculous bad luck!

I just did the same thing and I’m panicking. Was your baby ok?