Foods to avoid

[Urchinia]

When you get pregnant, how closely will you follow the "Do Not Eat" list?

I know here in North America, we tend to be a bit more cautious than some of our European counterparts, but please share what you'll avoid and what you don't care about.

For me, I personally tend to take on the attitude that I'm only pregnant for 9 months, so I will gladly sacrifice the few things on the "Do Not Eat" list during my pregnancy. I prefer to avoid necessary risks.

I cut out all coffee, alcohol, sushi, lunch meats, etc.

 

[spicyorange]

For me, I personally tend to take on the attitude that I'm only pregnant for 9 months, so I will gladly sacrifice the few things on the "Do Not Eat" list during my pregnancy.

I think I feel the same. I don't drink much alcohol or caffeine anyway but I'll be avoiding pate, soft cheese, unpasteurised food etc (cheese is going to be hard though as I love it).

 

[wombat1]

I hardly drink alcohol anyway and will make a point not to while pregnant (but in late pregnancy a bit is not damaging from what I know, at least my mum got a bit tipsy while heavily pregnant with me apparently), I hardly drink coffee anymore but a bit of coffee is fine, so if I'm out and want one I'll have one. I'm vegetarian so I don't need to worry about vitamin A poisoning with liver stuff, but the rest of the foods seem to be there due to a risk of food poisoning, so I don't think I'll be worrying too much about avoiding them. I don't eat most of the things that often anyway. Isn't there something like you're not meant to clean the cats litter box too? I work with cats and have a cat so definitely will be ignoring that too.

 

[Kitteh_Kat]

I don't think I altered my diet all that much during pregnancy. My biggest thing was being worried that I'd have to stop my turkey sandwiches for lunch, but my OB told me there was no reason to give up lunch meat as long as I bought it from a place with a good reputation (basically after 25 years of assisting women through pregnancy she had seen only one food related illness, and it was something completely beyond what a normal person would ever experience). I hate seafood so that wasn't a problem! I did give up beer, but still enjoyed a glass of wine every now and then. I'm a big coffee drinker, but I did limit myself to 2-3 cups a day (I drink half coffee/half milk). Other than that I had a very easy and relaxed pregnancy, and will probably do the same thing again with the next!

 

[wombat1]

I don't think I altered my diet all that much during pregnancy. My biggest thing was being worried that I'd have to stop my turkey sandwiches for lunch, but my OB told me there was no reason to give up lunch meat as long as I bought it from a place with a good reputation (basically after 25 years of assisting women through pregnancy she had seen only one food related illness, and it was something completely beyond what a normal person would ever experience). I hate seafood so that wasn't a problem! I did give up beer, but still enjoyed a glass of wine every now and then. I'm a big coffee drinker, but I did limit myself to 2-3 cups a day (I drink half coffee/half milk). Other than that I had a very easy and relaxed pregnancy, and will probably do the same thing again with the next!

I'm glad to hear that I just had a mini rant at my partner about all the things I'm not allowed to do/eat while pregnant and said he wasn't allowed to hate me if I broke some of those "rules". He said he wasn't even aware it was something you had to worry about and would immediately forget about it so he was happy for me to do whatever. Which is good!

 

[Kitteh_Kat]

I don't think I altered my diet all that much during pregnancy. My biggest thing was being worried that I'd have to stop my turkey sandwiches for lunch, but my OB told me there was no reason to give up lunch meat as long as I bought it from a place with a good reputation (basically after 25 years of assisting women through pregnancy she had seen only one food related illness, and it was something completely beyond what a normal person would ever experience). I hate seafood so that wasn't a problem! I did give up beer, but still enjoyed a glass of wine every now and then. I'm a big coffee drinker, but I did limit myself to 2-3 cups a day (I drink half coffee/half milk). Other than that I had a very easy and relaxed pregnancy, and will probably do the same thing again with the next!

I'm glad to hear that I just had a mini rant at my partner about all the things I'm not allowed to do/eat while pregnant and said he wasn't allowed to hate me if I broke some of those "rules". He said he wasn't even aware it was something you had to worry about and would immediately forget about it so he was happy for me to do whatever. Which is good!

I think there are so many things on the Internet designed to panic pregnant women! Talk to whoever manages your pregnancy about guidelines and what to avoid. The list my doctor gave me was tiny compared to what Dr. Google says. Which made me a happy pregnant lady!

And I think the litter box thing is more if you haven't been exposed to cats for a long time, but it sounds like you have. My husband took over that chore, and I didn't argue because it helped him feel like he was doing something. I would just recommend gloves and thorough hand washing.

 

[Yo_Yo]

I'm very careful when pregnant, otherwise I end up worrying!

 

[Girly922]

I wasn't that strict during pregnancy. I tried decaf tea, it didn't taste of tea (I like mine strong!) so I just cut my tea intake down to a cup a day. I stayed away from all alcohol, and still haven't had a drop. Although I plan to have a glass or 2 of wine with Christmas dinner! I can't eat fish or seafood so that wasn't a problem. I did stop having runny eggs, rare meat (which I love) and soft serve ice cream. Other than that I think I pretty much kept my normal diet.

 

[loeylo]

I am really determined whilst pregnant! I have only ever been in the first trimester, but im sure in future pregnancies I will continue to act the same way.
I switched to alcohol free versions of normal drinks, becks blue is amazing, and so are the alcohol free kopparbergs. The only time I had any real alcohol was at a family party where only the host knew I was pregnant, and even then she only topped up my lemonade with a tiny touch of wine which I hugged all night so others weren't suspicious! We are literally talking about a splash of wine over the course of a whole night, and I really felt dreadful afterwards.

Soft cheese is okay as long as it is processed, so the likes of Philadelphia is fine! I ate all ready packaged cheese and made sure I checked dates.
Caffeine wise, I drank caffeine free diet coke and tea, which was fine.
I actually craved healthy foods, so ate loads of fruit and veggies and cereals, so it didnt really bother me!

 

[angiepie]

I don't eat/drink any of those things anyway, so it's easy for me!!

 

[MrsMandy]

Re: the cat litter thing - theres some kind of bacteria in cat poo which can be quite dangerous for a pregnant woman but so long as you wesr gloves and throughly wash your hands and if you have the nox on any surfaces then ensure to anti bac then you should be fine (also anti bac any surface where food might be placed if the cats are walking on there - common sense i know but just thought i'd mention it!

Personally as hard as it will be as i live off the stuff i will be avoiding peanut butter as both me and my husband suffer with ecxema and i have allergies so i've heard it can increase the risk of a nut allergy if they're already prone to have allergies anyway!

 

[wombat1]

Re: the cat litter thing - theres some kind of bacteria in cat poo which can be quite dangerous for a pregnant woman but so long as you wesr gloves and throughly wash your hands and if you have the nox on any surfaces then ensure to anti bac then you should be fine (also anti bac any surface where food might be placed if the cats are walking on there - common sense i know but just thought i'd mention it!

Reading up about it it seems once you are exposed you are likely immune to it so as I've been exposed to cats literally all my life and I currently work with stray cats, I'm not worried

 

[MamaByrd]

I'll obviously avoid caffeine & alcohol, but sushi may be another thing...

Pregnant Japanese women eat sushi all day and they have exceptionally smart children! Why is it bad if it's very fresh? Someone explain!

 

[Urchinia]

I'll obviously avoid caffeine & alcohol, but sushi may be another thing...

Pregnant Japanese women eat sushi all day and they have exceptionally smart children! Why is it bad if it's very fresh? Someone explain!

I think that fresh sushi is fine, but there is always a parasite risk if the fish isn't from a credible source.

There's also the issue of mercury in some fish (like tuna, etc) that you'd want to avoid.

 

[spicyorange]

https://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/917.aspx?CategoryID=54

the NHS choices website gives the reasons why they say to avoid certian things. i shall probbaly be sticking to it quite closely - i've only had food poisoning once but i jsut dont want to take the risk of harming my baby for the sake of one slice of brie! - i think its a decision only you can make but im a rather safe than sorry person.

 

[Urchinia]

https://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/917.aspx?CategoryID=54

the NHS choices website gives the reasons why they say to avoid certian things. i shall probbaly be sticking to it quite closely - i've only had food poisoning once but i jsut dont want to take the risk of harming my baby for the sake of one slice of brie! - i think its a decision only you can make but im a rather safe than sorry person.

Thanks for sharing that link!

I am also a safe-than-sorry person. I was before I got pregnant, but have taken even more to that mind-frame since my pregnancy. I had a lot of complications the first time around, so if I was able to control certain things, I did. I had to have surgery and whatnot ...and it drove me bonkers that I had to expose my daughter to anesthetics and whatnot.

Being able to control other safety measures as much as possible was very important to me. The fewer risks the better!

 

[Mrs Eleflump]

Brie, runny eggs, and multiple cups of tea are going to be what I find hard.

Ok, brie I can get around - you're allowed it if it's been thoroughly cooked, and that's how I like it most anyway, so that's fine.

Runny yolk is the best bit about an egg. Seriously, what's the point of an egg if the yolk is solid? Growl. But if needs must...! I won't go without eggs, but will make sure they're solid.

I have my tea really weak, so weak that I am regularly ridiculed for it, and my only defence is 'I like a bit of tea in my hot milk' So I'm not worried about that so much, but at the moment I usually have 5-6 cups a day, and will be trying to cut it down to 2 or 3. The NHS website says <200mg caffeine, so just have to work out how much chocolate that is, and I'm good!

Alcohol, obviously not an issue as won't be touching a drop from ovulation onwards in case of BFP.

I don't eat meat or fish so that's not a problem, and I don't normally go near raw milk or anything made from it.

The list isn't actually as restrictive as I thought it would be, which is pretty nice

 

[rbourre]

I didn't really change my diet much with my first pregnancy. I didn't know I was pregnant for the majority of it and gave birth early. Once I found out, I stopped eating some cheeses (feta, brie) and cut down caffeine. I don't eat sushi and don't drink much so that wasn't a problem. I still ate deli meat.

 

[angiepie]

Re: the cat litter thing - theres some kind of bacteria in cat poo which can be quite dangerous for a pregnant woman but so long as you wesr gloves and throughly wash your hands and if you have the nox on any surfaces then ensure to anti bac then you should be fine (also anti bac any surface where food might be placed if the cats are walking on there - common sense i know but just thought i'd mention it!

Reading up about it it seems once you are exposed you are likely immune to it so as I've been exposed to cats literally all my life and I currently work with stray cats, I'm not worried

I read it's only for cats who go outdoors and eat things like rats and birds. My cats are indoor ones and have never been sick and don't get exposed to that kind of stuff.

Having said that, it's not exactly hard to wear a pair of gloves. Or I would gladly make DF do it.

 

[Caite]

I will kind of stick to the list, I guess, but only because I don't eat most of the things on the list anyway. I don't like eggs, red meat or much fish, I only drink a small amount of coffee each day, and I hardly ever drink alcohol. I do love cheese, especially the soft ones, though, and that will be the one thing I will really miss.

And the risk of taxoplasmosis is, apparently, also present with ferrets - although to a lesser extent than with cats. I keep ferrets, and, living on my own, I will still be responsible for handling them and cleaning them out, so I'll just have to be more careful when cleaning them out. And my mum has cats, and I do a lot of gardening in their garden's vegetable patch.