Accidentally had mould-ripened/ mature soft cheese (listeria risk!) and so worried :(

[Daphne2022]

Hi everyone!

Am 23 weeks pregnant with my first baby and have been being quite careful with what I eat (or don't).. on an island yesterday I ended up having a roquefort-type/ mould-ripened soft cheese by accident (uncooked)!

Apparently even if it's pasteurized (apparently this was), mould ripened cheese like this (esp soft) is a no-no in pregnancy. I'm very worried about listeria as this is exactly the type of cheese my doctor had said to avoid and I see it mentioned everywhere online.

I know many women must have been eating this sort of thing for years and listeria is very rare (though this type of cheese is a big source for pregnant women apparently), but wanted to know if anyone had any similar experiences where it ended up being fine?

(Apparently I can do a blood test in a couple of weeks to rule it out, as it may be unsymptomatic but still pass to the baby!)

Thank you 🙏

I very much doubt you'll find anyone who has had any kind of bad experience from eating mould ripened cheese.

My understanding is that the risks are vanishingly rare.

Personally I ate cheese like this in my pregnancies, without any issues. Obviously this is just my experience but I don't know anyone, at all, who has ever had listeria issues in pregnancy.

Hope you can de-stress and relax.

Thanks so much @ProseccoStorm .. did you eat things like brie, roquefort, blue cheese camambert in all trimesters? This was a local island cheese and again, I doubt that local pregnant women avoid it.. Thanks again!

You actually have a higher risk of getting listeria from salad than you do cheeses these days! I have 2 children and pregnant with my 3rd and I've eaten those types of cheeses in all my pregnancies and had no issues!

@Daphne2022

Yes, I did. I avoided unpasteurised but otherwise ate all cheese. I'm French, so cheese is essential.

I also in 3rd trimester ate fairly rare steak and had the occasional small glass of wine, which my midwife said was fine.

Obviously I'm probably at the more relaxed with the risk side of things, so don't feel you need to do the same.

It's important to keep stress levels low, so don't sweat the small stuff. Do what you can and don't worry about things you can't control or can't change.

I think maybe just take a deep breath on this one.

I ate mould ripened cheese in pregnancy too. On purpose.

I worked on a cheese counter in a deli for both pregnancy's, ate everything going. Had two very healthy children. Stop worrying x

I ate St Agur by the bucket load!

You'll be fine, the risk is low.

I did -- all of my pregnancies, all trimesters.

I stayed away from the really nice raw milk cheeses which are unpasteurised, but otherwise all cheese was fair game. I think I ate my body weight in brie with #2!

My French friend thought this advice was mad and ate all that stuff has 3 healthy teens now.

My mil helpfully served me a cheesecake with raw eggs in it 🙄 at 23 weeks. Was fine though I realised half way through and had to leave the rest which was gutting as was delicious

I was pregnant in Eastern Europe. Our milk came from the cow, in a churn from the farm down the road. Certainly not pasteurised. I survived and my baby was fine.

No issue with eating raw eggs in pregnancy, you should have carried on enjoying it.

lots of these ‘can’t eat this’ notions come from American food lists and don’t even apply here.

I’m just wondering how one accidentally eats a very specific type of cheese

@WhackingPhoenix it was on top of a salad at a taverna, and looked like soft feta (there were no blue bits in it per se..)

I accidentally ate a lot of things I shouldn’t have in my pregnancies and I have 3 healthy children, I think the risk is extremely low so don’t worry x

And a small update, there's a chance the cheese wasn't pasteurized either :(

I ate all kinds of cheese when pregnant. I also had the occasional glass of wine, pate and other 'banned' items.

Clearly don't smoke, take illicit drugs or drink a lot but the infantilising of pregnant women drives me insane! I'm

You’ll be fine, don’t worry.

You're not helping yourself OP.

Put it to the back of your mind. At this point, it really doesn't matter whether it was or wasn't, what's done is done. The risk of listeria from cheese is, as others have said, vanishingly small.

Most cases of listeria in this country are from salad or pre prepared sandwiches. I wouldn't worry.

I ate raw cheese like this throughout pregnancy and throughout my life, I've never knowingly got listeria in 50 years

I found reading the Emily Osher book “what to expect” was good as it talked about the actual science of why some things aren’t recommended (and why some of it is really old data!). Educating yourself is really helpful

I’ve eaten cheese - currently 16wks and all fine.

I ate lots of mould ripened cheese, on purpose, during both my pregnancies and both my babies were/are absolutely fine. I wouldn’t worry too much OP.

Are you not on holiday? Is this anxiety not ruining it all a bit for you?

No I'm back from a weekend away @Skinnermarink and yes this happened on the very last day and ruined it for me..