How reprehensible is it not to follow dietary advice?

[Kathyis6incheshigh]

Really interested on people's views on this, in the light of this e thread on drinking in pregnancy.

It's clear from that thread that some people think a pregnant woman shouldn't take any risks at all with regard to drinking alcohol. So do risks with food count as the same or different?

Does a pregnant woman have a duty to follow dietary advice, or is it her body and her right to eat what she wants?

Discuss

Crokky:

First of all, they are guidelines, not rules. There is a difference.

And from the content of your post it seems like you are more resentful of other people who have trouble-free pregnancies than anything else. To be honest, I don't see why you would make a big thing of condemning women who have trouble-free pregnancies for not following the guidelines. If you think that women should follow the guidelines what difference does it make if the pregnancy is trouble-free? Unless you wish everyone to go through what you have gone through or resent the women who don't follow the additional dietary burdens because their lives are somehow easier?

I am sorry if I am being harsh.

for those who wondered about my friend and her ds who was born partly blind, if I remember correctly the doctors decided she had passed toxoplasmosis to her baby in the first trimester, probably from eating unpasteurised dairy stuff or pate in rural france. - though she may also have caught it from farm animals I guess.

Vamonos - I did say the odd slip up on guidelines is fine IMO - what I meant was blatant consumption of this sort of stuff on a regular basis was silly. If people are consuming stuff like brie regualarly, then clearly they are not worriers and I don't think my comments would change their outlook.

I also did not say that my aunt's baby was stillborn BECAUSE of brie. I said she ate it all the time and her baby was stillborn. It might have been the reason, nobody will ever know. It was a long time ago.

chaya5738 - I do think you've been harsh with me. I absolutely would never wish for anyone to suffer the way I did during pregnancy. Never ever. I was sick hundreds of times right through both pgs and eventually my liver began malfunctioning and risked poisoning my DCs. Honestly, I would never ever wish it on my worst enemy. I also don't feel envious of people currently pg who are trouble free - I am not having any more children so pregnancy is not relevant to me any more (thank God!). All my ill health from pregnancy has reversed itself so nothing to feel bitter about as I have 2 lovely DCs.

I only used the expression "trouble free" in relation to those who might consume a bit of brie because it is my opinion that if you are already in hospital for complications, you are far less likely to add another risk than someone who has got no risk.

I would be a truly sick individual to want anyone to suffer like I did and I can promise you that I am not. I regret posting anything on this thread because now people think I am nasty when in fact, all I am doing is advocating following guidelines set by professionals!!! I follow guidelines and rules in life generally - pregnancy is no exception.

Must confess I haven't read all the posts so I might be duplicating someone else's comments, but did you see that a pub chucked a woman out for having a pint of lager??

They later apologised to the woman (after it made it to the newspapers, obviously) but I do think it's outrageous that the publican felt that they could impose their views in that way!

And don't forget that lots of women make themselves miserably frightened throughout their pregnancies by trying to follow every new idiotic, badlh-thought-out 'guideline' thrown at them by tabloid newspapers and stress isn't great for either mum-to-be or baby. ANd those women who decide with their loving partners that it's time to TTC, give up alcohol, fags and commuting, neck that folic acid and take up yoga etc etc etc, can do everything by the current rulebook and still have a stillbirth or child with severe SN.
There are no guarantees.

It would make more sense to encourage mothers to eat and drink things that are good for them and to look after themselves rather than criticise them for making decisions based on guidelines that are arbitrary.

The medical industry is under pressure to come up with guidelines, so come up with something they do - like this no. of units we are supposed to limit ourselves to per week - which is not based on any real evidence at all, just an educated guess.

Guidelines are there to prevent the dull section of the population from making silly decisions. On the radio yesterday I heard them say its because 1 glass of wine to one person equates to 1 bottle to another. So the sensible section of the population have to be guided by ridiculas rules set because of the tiny population who cant be trusted.

Personally, I have read so many facts on eating and drinking in pregnancy and hardly any of it stands up ie. find out when the last case of listeria was rife in cheese? But it bounces back on every website like chinese whispers.

The alcohol debate is also way out as people comment on fetal abnormalities but when asked how much they consumed - 2-3 bottles at the weekend! Come on most of us have no more than 4 glasses a week in total so not even comparable.

You'll always get people commenting on a child born with a abnormality and put it down to a food but once again has that been clinically proven or is it another rumour or made up story.

Like so much said, you have to read between the lines and find out the facts for yourself.

100% increase in a very tiny risk, is still a very tiny risk.

Hurrah Bacon!

The government was quite open when it changed its alcohol guidelines that it had gone from 1-2 units a week to none at all because it had no confidence women knew what 1-2 units a week actually looked like.

I thought this was astonishingly patronising. But I did have pause about that on the pint-in-pub thread, because everyone was talking in terms of a pint of lager being 2 units, whereas actually, these days, it's almost universally 3.

I think like everyone, I've tried hard to stay within the rules. But I haven't always. The ones that spring to mind is the odd egg I've done for 5 minutes which has been inexplicably runny, and also DH's birthday where I made him a lovely meal and was convinced my steak would be brown all the way through but it wasn't, it was medium rare, and rather than ruin the whole meal by leaving him to eat on his own and return to the kitchen I ate it anyway. I still feel a bit guilty about that. But the fact is, you're no more likely to get food poisoning while pregnant than you are at any other point in your life. And you can get toxoplasmosis far more easily from gardening than anything else, according to my vet (dried and therefore sporing cat shit in the soil). No-one harangues pregnant women about that...

I think you have to take it all with a pinch of salt (hah!).

I try and stick to the guidelines within reason - I went to a wine tasting night the other evening, but drove there so I'd have to limit my intake. The large quantities of brie they offered to us was a different matter, but it was a calculated risk, and one I was happy with.

You can be as careful as you like, but like Longtalljosie said about toxoplasmosis and gardening - sometimes you just have no choice, or you just don't realise in time.

DS (15 months) managed to climb over a 3 foot barricade yesterday, and I found him happily sitting in the cat litter tray throwing bits of poo around. At the end of the day I just had to go and sort it out, and hope for the best (for all of us - me, DS, and unborn bean!).

You can't live your life in a plastic bubble, and I think you need to balance the risks of eating and drinking certain foods with your emotional wellbeing. If you absolutely crave a bacon and brie pannini with a glass of white, then go for it, but keep in in moderation, and try and minimise the risks. Keep the glass small, try and get pasteurised brie, and keep it to once every few weeks.