Being pregnant on holiday to France

[charcharg]

We are off to France for a fortnight and I was just wondering if other’s experience of eating whilst pregnant there. I am being very careful with what I eat and am just a bit anxious about a lot of the menus not being that pregnancy friendly. I’m prepared to say I’m pregnant please cook the steak well etc, but will they listen and are guidelines for French women similar? Thanks for any reassurance in advance 😀

I'd be conscious of cured meats, soft cheeses and eggs. Other than that I think you should be fine 🙂

I think it's mostly the same, the one thing I remember from when I was pregnant there a few different restaurants were really funny about letting me have salad, while apparently not caring at all about cheese, pate or charcuterie. I remember arguing with a waiter about wanting the side salad to an omelette which he seemed deeply convinced would harm me and the baby.

I’m pescatarian and have never had an issue eating in any restaurant anywhere in France and when pregnant the only thing to avoid if I wished to follow NHS guidelines and came across with any regularity was the cheese!

If you order steak they should cook it how you want. A justification of pregnancy or just I prefer well done really shouldn’t be necessary. If they won’t do that then it’s a shit restaurant so go elsewhere.

FGS, It's France, not a third world country.
You'll be fine. Plenty normal choices everywhere.

For cooking steak just ask well done, same as the UK or any other country.

How can this even be an issue ?

Since when did you have to ruin steak if you are pregnant? Just enjoy your holiday, French women are pregnant too and seem to cope with French restaurants!

Hi @charcharg i went to Paris when i was 7 months pregnant. Everyone laughs at me but i booked self catering accommodation and took my own food. My husband ate out, if i had to eat out i'd probably have gone with the vegetarian options. Have a great time xx

The NHS pregnancy advice is quite clear on not eating meat that has blood or visible pinkness. If the OP wants to follow that advice that's up to her.

I went to France skiing when pregnant (not pregnant when booked) and I enjoyed a reasonable but not excessive amount of wine, cheese and even (shocker) chocolate mousse made with raw egg.

avoid raw shellfish (who eats raw shellfish anyway?). I think almost anything else is fine.

I second this x

i think general advice is to avoid raw or undercooked food (sushi, pink meat, some cheeses, raw eggs), so just be mindful of what you eat / carefully read the descriptions.

when i was 4 months pregnant we went to Tenerife and I basically lived on pizza and burgers - you know, just to be safe :P