salmonella in pregnancy .. how dangerous is it?

[mimmymoo]

ok, so ive found something else to worry/panic about .. yesturday couldnt feel baby move and was reassured when gp picked up strong heartbeat, he said at 20 weeks wouldnt be able to feel baby move ALL the time ..

then ...last night we had an improptu barbecue at my sisters, we were all sitting out in the garden and it was dark by the time we started eating .. as i started eating a minced lamb kebab on a skewer i commented it was cold in the middle - my bro in law said he had moved them to the side and it had probably cooled down, now im worried wasnt cooked through and worse still i have almost certainly eaten pink undercooked meat from a chicken drumstick as i noticed lots of pink around the bone when i took the plate out into the kitchen !!! im now sick with worry and have read it can take up to 72 hrs for salmonella to develop, so im certainly not out of the woods yet!

perhaps i shouldnt say/admit to this but when i got home i made myself throw up .. was just so scared, didnt bring up a lot as i was also worried about straining my belly but i have woken up feeling a little nauseas although i think this may be because of last night - ie. throwing up, makes me feel sick !!

do you think i could get salmonella by eating 1 small chicken drumstick - not properly cooked and of course the lamb skewer (although cant be sure this wasnt properly cooked, or had in fact just cooled down) .

ive done a little research on the net and if i do get food poisoning it will most likey be salmonella as listeria tends to be milk, cheeses etc .. i have also read on the net conflicting advice that salmonella is not harmful to baby, but will be pretty nasty for me (read this from 2 diff sources) then read somewhere else it could be harmful to baby, great .. has anyone ever had it during 2nd trim and was baby ok ?? just got all of today, thurs and friday to worry about now !!!

 

[mimmymoo]

anyone?

 

[Wriggley]

umm thats a tricky one:

Chicken can be really dodgey but at the same time i think it would have been mentioned alot more in pregnancy articles/books etc...

If they were worried about you eating wrongley cooked chicken then i think it would be more known....

Like dippy eggs and home made mayo is only a no no coz you can get salmonella from them

 

[mimmymoo]

phoned my mw and she assured me if i had food poisoning, i would know about it by now with gurgling tummy etc, as i ate the meat 12 hrs ago
but i keep reading can take between 12-72 to come out and it is only just over 12, feel a little lightheaded and nauseas but im wondering if perhaps im bringing on the symptoms myself by worrying about them?
also have drank loads of water right after milk cereal that may be causing me to feel a bit sicky - its all very subtle, will just have to keep an eye on it i guess

thanks for reply wriggley, hope you're right .. and chicken is one of the lesser culprits of salmonella, they should deffo make a bigger thing of it when advising which foods to avoid .. my problem is i keep finding info on the net about what to avoid but nothing really telling me what to expect, how can affect you and baby if you get it - i asked the mw and she was a little vague saying if i was sick or diorhear (sp?) to contact doctor straight away because of dehydration, didnt mention if harmful to baby

the worry about it all and the risks has put me right off meat, eggs, ready meals etc .. im going to have to have serious think about what im going to eat the next 20 weeks! did you know you can even get food poisoning from cantaloupe melon .. read that too last night, that has been one of my mad cravings and there was me thinking i was being real healthy eating lots of fruit!

would really love to hear from anyone who had it whilst pregnant, my mw didnt seem too concerned but im a real worry head !

 

[Wriggley]

i know what you mean im a tad worried atm coz i rolled over my boyfriend and ended up on the floor in the night.. didnt fall on my belly but i worried about the roll :/

If you had food poisoning you would defo know about it... much more then nausea.... you tummy would feel really weird and you would also feel VERY weak in yourself and you would be violently vomiting and defo wouldnt be able to keep any food down...

Plus you would probably pass out...

my uncle had food poisioning and passed out from it coz u feel that ill

 

[Serenity81]

Hey hun, I can totally understand how you are feeling as I have worried so many times about getting Salmonella or Listeria. Listeria being the one I have worried about most as it can do some serious damage, although apparently it is rare. I had food poisoning when I was pregnant with my 3rd child which was confirmed through tests at my gp. I have no idea what it was I had eaten that led to it as I was always super careful but I was extremely ill. My son was fine, born 2 weeks overdue weighing 8lb xxxx

 

[mimmymoo]

hi serenity,
thank you for your encouraging words,
was it salmonella you had? can i ask how long it was before you actually got ill?
although im kind of feeling ok (slight cramps, but get these on and off anyway) and coming up for 17 hrs, dont think i'll properly relax until 72 hours is over

i have read can make pg ladies really ill as imune system not so good, so was thinking if was going to get it would be showing signs by now so hoping as mw said if no symptoms by now have got away with it this time - not that im going to be eating meat any time soon !

 

[AlwaysPraying]

I just wanted to mention one thing.

Just because meat is undercooked or cold, does NOT automatically mean that it's infected with anything bad. What has to happen is the meat itself needs to have the bacteria on it at the beginning in order for that bacteria to grow at all. Which means, that if there is no bacteria on the meat, we can eat it raw without any concern of infection at all! Does that make sense?

It's kind of like kissing people. You can kiss anyone you want (um, you know what I mean, lol). But you will only catch a cold if someone you kiss has a cold. It's not the kissing a stranger that gives you a sickness, it's the bug.

So, the chicken may not have had any issues to begin with at all, same with the lamb. Funny enough, chances are, that's true. The real risk and scare is that if it did have a bug on it, and it grew, is when we can get sick.

Another thing is with eggs. Samonela comes from the skin contact of the chicken laying the egg to the shell. Not the actual egg insides itself. You could have samonella on the outside of the shell, but break it / cook it and it's gone. Leaving a soft middle, which is fine.

I'm getting this from my culinary education food borne illness courses just to let you know! Hope this sort of helps. It makes me sad when they make us all jump because we've eaten under cooked meats when really, that's not totally the right way of thinking about it.

 

[Serenity81]

No it wasn't salmonella it was ecoli that was found after testing. I'm not really sure how long it took me to get sick because I honestly dont know what it was that gave me food poisoning in the first place as I was always really careful. I'm sure if your midwife was at all concerned she would have said so hun, so please try not to worry. I know, I know easier said than done xxxx

 

[Novemberbabe]

I think most likely you'll be fine hun, not all chicken carries salmonella so whilst its not ideal to eat it undercooked in most cases people are fine.

I know it must be worrying but I'm sure your MW would have done more if it had been a huge concern x x

 

[Shwhattam+1]

To be honest, I kind of think your panicking...which is also not good for Baby!

Whenever I start having worries about food safety and the harm it could cause to my Bean, i think about the fact that we our food safety standards are way more strict and our nutrition is way better that that of other countries.

Imagine how worrisome it would be to live in some countries, where even the drinking water can make you ill...wonder how those women get through their pregnancies!?

 

[mimmymoo]

hi,
thanks everyone, youve managed to put my mind at rest .. feel fine so far so chances are all is ok

thanks too always praying,
you explained that well, i didnt realise the food had to have the bug on it to start with, just thought the fact was undercooked caused the bug, but it now all makes sense! they really dont give you enough info about food poisoning and its risks whilst pregnant - almost give you the info about which foods to avoid etc .. as an afterthought

thanks again everyone x

 

[hitchinite]

Glad to hear you are feeling well Mimmy...
It sounded like you were getting too worried over such a small risk.
Hope you enjoy the rest of your pregnancy!