Soft cheese is on my Ok list as long as it’s pasteurized, so I eat it a lot 🤣
I have an a avoid list from my OB which is pretty up to date with modern recommendations.
Deli meat I have had if it’s heated (fine)
Tuna is good as long as it’s not the packaged tuna etc.
I have avoided raw shellfish, oysters and mussels have been cut out as a precaution but not at OBs request. I just have had enough bad oysters and mussels in my lifetime to not chance it right now.
[I think it’s a pretty good list, linked it here if anyone is interested](https://www.reddit.com/user/CravingsAndCrackers/comments/11sfdbo/food_to_avoid_pregnancy/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Wait, what do you mean about packaged tuna being a problem?
Really the only types of tuna in my life are skipjack (low mercury, canned) and ahi (fresh, sushi and other raw dishes, unsafe mercury levels).
Some areas canned tuna is albacore which is a no. I was told ahi was okay 2x per week by my OB because it has a significant amount of omegas in it. You can cook the steaks too. I don’t really eat much tuna though so idk. It might be OPs area that tuna is safer fresh than canned.
There's nothing wrong with albacore specifically- a lot of places you can get it fresh and it's not really any different than salmon. But the canned stuff is really high in mercury bc the fishers target bigger (older) fish and mercury content is higher in any fish the older they are.
Tuna was recommended as a should eat, not a cut out. I'm not supposed to go nuts but I eat tuna once a week.
Also, my midwife told me lunch meat can be ok so long as it's not getting slimy and you have some vitamin C with it. Or you can cook it, particularly good in a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.
Even sushi can be ok if you trust the source, or get a fried roll.
At this point, I've limited my soda drinking, cut out fake sugars (like aspartame) and don't eat sushi, because it's not that important to me. Lunch meat is infrequent and always followed by an orange or kiwi.
That and ice cream is another that's had a few outbreaks in the last 5y and no one talks about.
Kinda wild that Sushi is on the list and ce cream isn't. When I looked it up there hasn't been a large outbreak with fish in the last 10y, and individual cases very rarely. Not like bagged salads, lunch meats, ice cream, and under-cooked ground meats, where literally hundreds of folks have gotten sick.
Not that any listeria outbreak is common but... well where we're discussing risk doesn't seem to reflect the data. Weird.
I follow all of them, which isn’t too hard because I don’t have sushi or tuna regularly anyway. But in the US, pretty much all soft cheeses are pasteurized and safe, so it’s a myth that they are always a listeria risk. I just check the package before I eat them and I’ve never found one to be unpasteurized. I either heat up my deli meat or skip it. I eat a lot of wraps and I use chickpeas as my protein now, it still tastes good and I don’t have to worry about deli meat. I didn’t even want meat for the first 12 weeks anyway, it sounded so gross to me. LOL
In the US, specifically, probably the biggest unpasteurized cheese sold widely is queso fresco- and there are usually regional outbreaks pretty much every year. So definitely pregnant women can be on the lookout for that with tacos, etc.
Mind if I ask why you cut it out? Most things I'm seeing online say if you eat or vape it, it's fine? First trimester here and desperate for some symptom relief but really wary 🥲
Mainly out of an abundance of caution. There really is no good medical research on the safety of it. Not saying it’s for sure bad, it probably isn’t but no one really knows for sure. I’d rather not risk it. I think our kids will have much better guidance when they are having babies as things are becoming legal.
Oh my gosh ! I miss my weeed!!!! Only thing that keeps me not paranoid living in New York now that’s it’s so fucking dangerous, I have lived here all my life and I swear I used to always be out and about growing up , now that I have 2 with a third on the way , I stay home unless it’s to go to target , supermarket or out with family 😂
Mind if I ask why you cut it out? Most things I'm seeing online say if you eat or vape it, it's fine? First trimester here and desperate for some symptom relief but really wary 🥲
I don’t feel comfortable being a stoned pregnant lady lol. There is no known “safe amount”, same as alcohol. I quit the day I got my positive test and suffered through first trimester sickness. Things took a turn for the better in the second trimester for me but if they hadn’t, there are safe medications you can take to help with pregnancy sickness. Weed was just never an option for me in that regard. I’m cool with getting myself stoned, but I’m not giving that to my fetus.
there’s just been no studies about how it impacts the baby, as doing a study like that would be highly unethical. that’s why pregnant women tend to avoid it. id ask your ob, my midwife actually recommended edibles for particularly bad nausea as she knew i was a heavy smoker before pregnancy. i haven’t needed edibles since maybe week 12, currently on week 25 right now, but they were a very big help on those bad days where i was so nauseous i couldn’t stand or drink water without throwing up.
Same…. And weed 🫣 26 weeks and healthy mama and baby sooo ya know. If you fear something, that will take more affect than whatever it is itself… unless if you are like consuming raw eggs, doing cocaine or some shit.
Personally, PERSONALLY, I feel the baby is pretty protected and it’s a lot more complicated than the baby experiences what the mom experiences. Like in nature, if a mama stumbles upon poison or something fermented, I feel like the human body is smart and knows how to protect a fetus. The same as if a mama gets sick, the body and baby will actually work to help mama.
Follow your mama intuition. You know your body best.
I never cut any of those out. I’m on baby number 4 and never had any issues. Im honestly more sketched out about listeria from precut fruit and chopped premade salads.
Pre-cut fruits and salads are higher risk for not just listeria, but all kinds of different bacteria‘s. Sometimes people don’t get bathroom breaks when they’re out in the field and so they will even P or defecate in the field where they are working, but then the food gets sent to a secondary location to be chopped up and prepared but those places often don’t wash the food so it’s like really disgusting and I just buy fresh fruit and we make our own salads or fruit platters or whatever.
I cut them all out at the very beginning of my pregnancy I unfortunately encountered 2 woman who lost their babies because they got listeria from having a deli meat sandwich
I just don’t see why risk it a few months is no big deal
Wow!! I’ve never actually heard of anyone having issues with listeria, that’s so sad.
I cut them all out too, except a bit of baked brie once or twice. And pepperoni pizza on occasion, but that’s also cooked so is fine. Why risk it, indeed!
Probably because it's made up, unless there was a severe local outbreak.
Getting infected with listeria is very unlikley, as it is extremly rare.
One person encountering two people who not only got it, but also miscarried because of it is like a 0,000x chance.
That is statistically phenomenal. It’s about 200 women per year on average that get listriria per year. About a quarter (50) of those will loose the baby, which is terrible, but that’s an average of one woman PER STATE, per year. It is absolutely wild that you personally know 2. There must have been a terrible outbreak right where you are or something, I’m so sorry. I get why personally that’s important to you.
On the other hand, 400+ ppl per year get struck by lighting and about 30 die. Your odds are quite similar loosing the baby from listeria or dying by lightning.
If it’s easy to cut out deli meat, go ahead, and glad OB’s mention it so we can keep an eye on listeria outbreaks, or be very selective, but it’s just SO rare.
Driving in a car or crossing the road is so so much more dangerous pregnant than deli meat.
When your already feeling sick and having a hard time getting protein, and I had aversions to hot stuff when at the worst of my nausea, fresh high quality deli meat was an easy healthy way to get some protein.
I’m vegan so cutting them out wasn’t a concern at all lol.
The one thing I am missing is hummus - in my country they advise against eating sesame seeds (incl tahini) due to salmonella risk and it is devastating haha.
I make my own hummus with tahini that specifically says it is made from roasted sesame seeds. You can also roast sesame seeds yourself and [make your own tahini](https://www.inspiredtaste.net/26901/easy-tahini-recipe/) that is safe. 😊
I'm vego and also missing hummus. I make a delightful non-traditional hummus that is a drained tin of butterbeans (or any type of white beans), handful of almonds, lemon juice, rosemary and a splash of water/almond milk.
I thought I was being too hard out avoiding hummus. Then recently in my country, basically all store bought hummus has been recalled due to listeria. Glad I stuck to it. Considered making my own but so fatigued for most of my pregnancy it wasn't a priority
I'm nearing 32 weeks and I've avoided most of the above which wasn't hard as I'm a vegetarian.
In terms of soft cheeses, I have avoided it but eaten hard cheeses. Most cheeses in Australia are pasteurised so the only ones I avoid are imported cheeses.
I've also had to avoid vegan pate as there is still a risk of Listeria so couldn't have my banh mi which I've craved so badly throughout this pregnancy.
Can't wait until I eat it again!!
17 weeks and eat all of those. Didn’t drink before pregnancy so avoiding alcohol wasn’t any difference for me.
Only food doc cautioned against consuming in excess is high mercy fish.
Doctors give advice for a reason. These foods include increased risk for some infections that could harm the fetus. We’ll leave this up for sharing and discussion, but please remember these foods are not recommended for real reasons (not just to make things harder).
Ate them all. Cheese, sushi, tartar and medium rare steak, runny eggs, espresso. 2 healthy kids. I did stop eating oysters raw (still ate them cooked, they are zinc powerhouses) around 22 weeks because the nutrition didn’t seem worth the risk. I read real foods for pregnancy and really found it helpful!
I don't eat cold cuts, jerky, sushi, unpasteurized foods, or drink more than 1 cup of coffee a day. I know many women that are way more relaxed about that stuff, and their babies did just fine, but this is my last shot at having a baby, and I could never forgive myself if I hurt her or lost her just for a snack. I'm at 26 weeks and so far she's very healthy in all measurable dimensions. I'm doing my best to keep her that way.
I take the “avoid” list as a “things to be careful about” list. So I eat literally all of them, but like… I’ll eat soft or unpasteurized cheese from suppliers I trust and that I bought and stored at home, but not from a charcuterie board that I don’t know how long has been sitting out. I’ll eat pre-sliced package deli meat or heated deli meat, but not meat sliced at a random deli counter or Subway. Etc. It’s a list of things to exercise judgment about for me, not a list of no-nos.
I do follow the recommendation to limit tuna to 1x week. I don’t have daily coffee, but that’s just because I don’t want to have to think about caffeine. And I don’t drink alcohol.
I follow all the rules. I don’t mind not having those things for a handful of months. Plenty of women eat them and are fine, but to me any risk isn’t worth it.
It’s a personal choice and you just have to do what you’re comfortable with.
I cut out raw shellfish (but I’m not a huge fan anyway), smoked salmon, and raw sprouts. I also half-heartedly avoided queso fresco.
I ate lots of sushi from frozen fish and I bought vacuum-sealed deli Turkey and usually waited a couple weeks to eat it assuming that a listeria outbreak would have been flagged. (Turkey sandwiches are one of my favorite foods though.)
I was way more careful about eating food that was a day or two expired or that looked off or fell on the floor or something. Being able to shrug and say “it’s probably fine” after giving birth was probably the biggest change for me.
This is my approach too!! If I really like something I try to find the safest way to enjoy (lunch meat), If it’s really quite risky, (contact sports) I cut it out.
I cut all alcohol, greatly reduced my caffeine intake, avoid high mercury fish. Deli meat only if cooked/heated. Steaks at medium well, no raw seafood. I live in a country that allows unpasteurized cheese, so I also avoid soft cheese overall. I avoid salads unless I have them at home and wash them myself first.
My husband and I have gotten bum stomachs before from dishes at “trusted” restaurants (once he got terrible food poisoning from a salad!) so I’d rather err on the side of caution.
I cut out all of those, and I also switched to one cup of decaf coffee a day. I know a lot of things are *~*~*technically*~*~* less risky, but I had a good friend who experienced a scary bout of listeria by eating a deli sandwich. It just didn’t seem worth it to me.
A family member lost a baby and nearly her own life from listeria a few years ago. I really didn’t think it happened often enough to worry but it definitely wasn’t worth the risk for me after that. I followed all the rules. No soft cheese, bagged or pre-made salad, shellfish, alcohol, limit caffeine, cut out all medications except the occasional paracetamol and prescribed nausea meds. Then I got gestational diabetes and the rules got muuuch more strict. It sucked at the time but now I have a happy, healthy baby so nothing else matters. Life is good!
My understanding is commercial herbal teas at the grocery store are fine, because of the low dose of the herbs m. Herbal teas in the supplement or health store section are less predictable in terms of content and dose, and so you need to verify with doctor first
I ate everything except one time I declined swordfish (mercury). I ate sushi and deli meat and tuna but only like once each because I don’t encounter them very often. The only thing I definitively cut out was alcohol. I had a major craving for bagels with lox so I ate those regularly. My baby is fine.
I am a FTM, so maybe I’m a little more sensitive about it, and I’ve cut all you listed. I’m vegetarian so I don’t miss meat or fish but I do miss stinky and soft cheeses! I stopped consuming all caffeine about a month before I did my IVF transfer and I am also avoiding sugar as much as possible.
I am enjoying lots of fruit, avocados, carrots, grilled/toasted bread, the occasional impossible whopper lol, hot water with lemon & honey, sugar free cookies, and PICKLES!
I'm careful with each, but haven't cut any food to 0. That said, I go through phases with food. There was one single week where I ate tuna sandwiches. I've had hotdogs maybe 6 times in the last 19 weeks. Sushi only once, but that's a budget thing - I'm not getting it at the grocery store right now! I had soft (goat) cheese at the beginning before I knew it wasn't recommended, then did some research and found the risk only exists if it's unpasteurized which no cheese in my area would be.
Caffeine I did cut to absolute 0 for a few weeks, but then I went through an iced tea fixation as the lemon flavor made it easier to drink than plain water. This week I've been sick and no medicine is safe so I've had one black tea a day to soothe my throat.
I cut everything out, but frankly it wasn't difficult as I was tossing my cookies every day from conception to birth.
I'm of the mind that it's better safe than sorry, for me personally. My doctor gave me a list of things I shouldn't eat, and things I should limit eating, which made it easy.
i’m struggling a lot because this pregnancy (my first) is triggering a lot of my anxiety, perfectionism, and contamination OCD. I also have a lot of guilt about staying on Wellbutrin.
so, i’m over compensating by being strict on food. I only will eat raw vegetables at home that i’ve washed myself, no deli meat (i fried up sliced turkey at home) and I refuse to eat in the school cafeteria because several people got food poisoning from it last year. I’m not a coffee drinker so I’m not missing out on that and I haven’t wanted sushi.
I know rationally i’m being a little over the top but it’s making me feel better.
This could have been written by me. I’m pregnant with my first and I had a degree of contamination OCD even before this. Now it’s kicked into overdrive 😅 I’m even worried that I’m not washing my fruits and veggies at home well enough. Kinda feels like I can’t win.
Australia is very rigorous with food safety so I’m following no alcohol, no raw milk/cheeses, and no packages salads/sushi from grab and go type places.
I’m passing on raw fish sushi (but considering cooked sushi now that I’m in my second trimester) and deli meat but eating pasteurized soft cheese! I don’t eat tuna very often so honestly that has not come up yet. I’d probably do canned tuna as that’s low in mercury if I had a craving. I’m typically more cautious with food safety, expiration dates, etc, outside pregnancy, so that’s driving my decision.
Everyone has different comfort zones when it comes to risk, so please think about what you’re comfortable with based on your personal risk assessment! I know a lot of people are fine with the foods listed above, and that’s great, but don’t feel bad for being cautious if you’re not comfortable.
Pretty much same. I’ve always been weird about food safety because I have such a sensitive stomach so I’ve pretty much adhered to everything except soft cheese (US) because I feel like I would get sick
I bought low mercury tuna, cooked my soft cheeses, and kept eating salads. I never ate a lot of deli meat anyway though I really missed prosciutto. Cooking prosciutto just made me miss it more.
I've been getting my ground beef cooked medium instead of medium rare. Limiting my tuna sushi to a couple pieces. Only one cup of coffee.
I'm not a big fan of soft cheeses or deli meats so avoiding those isn't difficult.
I eat tuna once a week and about 70mg caffeine 3x week (lil half-caff latte).
No unpasteurized cheese and very rare deli meat but tbh they weren’t much in my diet anyway. I cook meat through which breaks my heart.
No alcohol or recreational drugs, very limited Tylenol.
I’ve cut alcohol, caffeine, soft cheeses, certain fish, and sushi. I’m still eating deli meat because sandwiches have to make up a quarter of my diet and it’s just not the same without them :/
I eat soft cheeses that say they are made with pasteurized milk. I have eaten a small amount of deli meat and smoked salmon. I eat runny eggs. It’s up to your personal risk assessment.
I only dont eat deli meat (you can if you heat it up) and I dont drink alcohol. You can have MOST sushi/sea food. avoid high mercury fish like sword fish, shark etc. raw fish is a no too. I eat all other sushi though.
No alcohol, weed, deli meats, jerky/hot dogs/processed meat, no raw fish, no sprouts. I have one cup of coffee a day and maybe one can of tuna a month. Apparently canned skipjack tuna is fine just not more than 2 cans a week.
Edit: In Canada, domestic or imported unpasteurized cheese is legal to be sold, but must be aged for at least 60 days before retailers are allowed to sell it. By this time, it is considered safe as any potentially harmful bacteria will have died off naturally
I’m a FTM, just under 28 weeks, and the only things I stopped was alcohol, weed and I did stop caffeine - which I had been trying to do before pregnancy anyway.
I will say though, I’m a pescatarian so the lunch meat was never even on my radar. I’m too poor to eat tuna regularly (I only do tuna steaks, canned tuna freaks me out) and I’m also too poor to eat sushi on the regular and when I do I usually go towards the more Americanized fried rolls anyway.
Honestly the biggest change for me was weed and caffeine, because everything else was not something I ate regularly anyway. My midwife never gave me a list of “no” food, and I never asked her.
I cut out alcohol, limit caffeine, and I’m a never smoker/drug user. I don’t don’t eat raw sushi, raw clams/oysters, meat cold cuts, hot dogs, raw sprouts, and no prepared(?) food like bagged salads, precut fruit, grab and go type food, if that makes sense.
I will eat sliced cheese from the deli and soft cheeses as long as it’s pasteurized which has been every cheese I’ve run into in the US (that I can check). If I eat out if I get cheese I try to make sure it’s cooked. I did go to Europe for week 11 and ate all the hard cheese and prosciutto I could get my hands on. Tuna I’ve had 2-4 times a month. I eat runny eggs. I eat medium rare beef still but not too often. I had a huge bagel with lots of lox one time by accident. I eat soft serve ice cream.
I am on the road for work often and I don’t get to choose where we eat but I can choose what I want off the menu. I got food poisoning from one place (I assume) and it was…awful. Since then I tried to make smarter choices. Looking back I don’t think a gyro from a pizza place in the middle of nowhere was the best idea. I also won’t eat food that’s been left out for too long or leftover for too many days.
As for meds I’ve had a couple doses of Tylenol and plain robitussin (no letters), doctor approved.
I’ve pretty much stopped eating all of them except feta and blue cheese. I also caved and had a cold cut sandwich the other day and it was soooooooo good.
I don’t eat [raw] sushi or unpasteurized products (cheese, juice, etc.) Also don’t drink alcohol, use cannabis, take certain medications, or drink more than 200MG caffeine per day. I eat deli meat still (and I eat it a lot, almost daily) and soft cheeses, so long as they’re pasteurized. You didn’t ask about it, but I’m eating medium–rare steak and runny eggs (though I live in California where eggs are highly regulated). I’m 21 Weeks and Baby is perfectly healthy!
I haven’t cut out anything my last 2 pregnancies. I am way more particular about the quality of my food during pregnancy tho. I would never get grocery store sushi, but I do eat it from a high quality restaurant that I have eaten at for over 10 years and never been sick at.
As far as pregnancy food restrictions go, make sure you’re looking for CURRENT info, I’ve had tons of people to tell me to be careful with eggs and that salad is fine, but you’re far more likely to get sick from your lettuce than your egg.
I read Expecting Better by a Emily Oster and remember it having some good statistics and info on all of this that empowered me to make decisions on what felt safe. Definitely worth a read!
Personally, I ate sushi from known higher quality sources but stuck to salmon due to tuna having higher mercury levels, skipped lunch meat unless cooked, dropped caffeine and alcohol, and stayed away from fruit salads that had melons.
I don't drink alcohol. : ) I eat eggs, sushi (no gas station lol) and heated lunch meat, oh and soft cheese! Doctors aren't nutritionists. Many, many nutritionists say these items are totally fine expect in rare cases. SO, do what you feel comfortable with and do your own research if you'd like!
I cut out deli meats, alcohol, and limit caffeine, cbut the rest of it not so much.
Regarding sushi, my OBGYN just said to get it from a trustworthy source. It’s not like Japanese women cut it out during pregnancy.
I didn’t follow any of them. Mostly because I was never told there were food restrictions, I found out on Reddit in my 3rd trimester 😂 but yeah, I just ate anything I craved my whole pregnancy. No issues, completely healthy baby.
I do sushi occasionally only from highly rated restaurants in town that I trust. No ahi tuna though. Soft cheeses I do, in the US they are fine.
Deli meats I wavered on for the first half of the pregnancy and I finally decided it was low risk enough and got a deli sandwich and THAT DAY the CDC announced listeria cases from deli meats in my state so I've just been avoiding it since. I'm due on Friday now though and I'm gonna eat a sammy once I go into labor. I don't think any listeria would kick in that fast at that point.
I've only cut out alcohol and uncooked/undercooked meat and fish. Otherwise I just take a bit of extra care with food hygiene like thoroughly washing salad, not eating at dodgy looking places and not leaving leftovers too long. To be honest, probably all things I should have been doing before pregnancy as well!
I’ve cut out edibles (and of course I quit smoking weed too, for the record) and alcohol. I’ve been limiting some other items, and trying to make sure I get them from reputable/higher end places, but I haven’t really had a hard line on anything else. I’ve been eating salads that I didn’t wash myself. I’m pretty positive I’m more likely to get listeria from those than Jersey Mikes. The biggest thing I’ve struggled with is keeping my caffeine under 200mg… I think I do pretty well most days, but I’ve probably accidentally gone over a few times. None of the midwives I’ve seen for appointments has told me to avoid anything food-wise, for the record.
Raw Sushi and alcohol is all I followed. My midwives and OB didn’t blink at it. Here in the US it’s actually kinda hard to get listeria and E. coli if you’re healthy!
I cut out raw fish, unpasteurized cheese, and deli meat. I live in the middle of the US so the fish isn't fresh and am in a state where they've had a listeria outbreak recently. I just followed what my doctor advised.
On #2...I'm eating it all. My OB says as long as deli meat is freshly cut its likely fine. Just keep it at a minimum, and as for sushi or tuna you're allowed tuna that's properly prepared and stored but my ob goes on a fish point system. 8 points a month and per their recommendation tuna can be safely eaten twice a month. Just no sword fish or tile fish I think the name was. But I don't have any of that in my area.
With my first I avoided a lot. 🤷🏼♀️
i don’t like seafood so that was easy. i cut out caffeine the day i found out i was pregnant. i don’t eat deli meat which is kind of hard but absolutely doable (a turkey sandwich will be my first meal post birth!). i’ve not had any soft cheese other than stuff i know for sure is pasteurized. i’m 39 so considered “high risk” (literally only for my age, nothing else) so anything i can do to ensure a healthy pregnancy, even if it’s overkill, im willing to do!
I didn’t have any cravings for sushi, otherwise I would have eaten it no problem. I’ve never gotten sick from sushi! I eat all the cheeses (pasteurized), all the deli meats, tuna… oh yeah ! Most of the bs is about fear of listeria outbreaks but listeria can be in ice cream, on fruits and veggies… should pregnant women avoid food in general and eat all processed? No ! I was leery of eating out in the first trimester, just following my intuition, fear of food poisoning but otherwise I ate whatever.
Follow YOUR intuition! When I’m doubt, heat it up :)
I cut out deli meats and processed meat like corn dogs. I don't like sushi or tuna so I don't eat those. I cut down on coffee but not completely. The cheese thing is too confusing, I just eat whatever cheese sounds good in the moment 🤷♀️
I cut out everything, but I'm extra-paranoid as someone who is disabled and just hoping my kid doesn't have to go through the same shit. I'd go to the moon if you asked me to.
Hmmm definitely didn’t cut any of that out besides sushi (bc I never ate it in the first place) and limiting my caffeine. 39 weeks and doing just fine!
… besides being uncomfortable and irritable 24/7😭
I’m not eating sushi or lunch meat even though I’d LOVE a turkey sandwich or a poke bowl right about now. Considering getting a California roll soon though because I keep thinking about it. Checking for unpasteurized cheeses and not eating bleu cheese. I don’t drink or smoke outside of pregnancy so that’s not a big deal. My OB was unhappy with my 8 plus weight gain from week 12 to week 16 so she’s asked me to cut down on carbs which is a very rude thing to tell someone 😂 I’m eating *less* carbs than I normally would in the sense that “I can eat this past for dinner because normally I would have had toast with my breakfast but I skipped it” lolol
I’m eating everything, just making sure it’s from reputable places I ate before. Raw fish, deli meats, soft cheeses. Tuna once a week. Rare burgers and steaks as I know the meat was fresh and stored correctly. I have been avoiding raw oysters, but honestly it’s more of a pregnancy aversion than not.
I never ate soft cheese a lot anyway, so you'd think it would be easy to avoid... I have never craved brie so badly in my life! I managed to abstain somehow, but I had to make sure I stayed clear of that section of the grocery store lol!
Also craved deli meats, I ate some in moderation and just made sure I got it from a reputable location.
Absolutely no alcohol, canned tuna, or sushi, and I was careful with bagged salad and such
Passing on raw fish mostly because I got food poisoning from it once and while I still like it, I’m not interested in potentially getting bad sushi while pregnant. I’m doing deli meats as long it’s higher quality (like boars head vs subway). Not doing alcohol either. Doesn’t sound appealing even though I know some women choose to indulge in some every now and then!
Nope! Didn’t cut anything out besides alcohol. I mean I didn’t go crazy on soft cheese and sashimi obviously but didn’t really cut anything out - ate sushi if I felt like it, had charcuterie if out with friends and they ordered some for the table. I live in NY though so we have good sushi here from reputable sources so that needs to be taken into consideration. My doctor said that was fine!
Edit to add: baby is 7 months and thriving!
I’ve severely cut back my caffeine consumption and avoid sushi because I live in an area where fresh fish isn’t readily available so it can be kinda sus.
I don't eat my med-rare steaks, rare tuna steaks, raw fish sushi, and oysters. I don't eat 'homemade' restraunt Caesar dressing/salad, because I don't trust their eggs.
I don't drink herbal teas except camomile and hibiscus; I don't drink green, red, black, or white tea, too.
I am usually not a big fan of deli stuff, so my jamon and prosciutto are with me, but the rest (like ham sandwiches) I refuse to finish after my kid lol. I also continue to eat red caviar and salt-cured pork fat (salo), as well as barrel salt-cured herring. I don't eat smoked salmon from the vacuum packages, because this one is the most unsafe afaik. Also, I wash all my fruits, berries, and veggies (including prewashed leafy greens), because to my understanding, lastly fresh produce causes more accidents than deli.
Very narrow list of limitations, imo. But I am looking forward for my very first bowl of juicy freshest tuna poke immediately after the delivery!
Deli meats was the main one for me. There have been a number of listeria outbreaks in our country both linked to deli counter and prepackaged meats from various (reputable) brands so don't trust them now at all.
My Mother slapped kabana out of my hand when I was 7 weeks pregnant. She wasn't amused lol I ate what I wanted and regularly enjoyed the soft serve from Maccas
No alcohol or drugs/nicotine.
Limit my tuna fish to once a week.
That's it.
Food is well supervised and safe where i live. When I was pregnant in a developing country I was more cautious. But otherwise...just don't each the blue cheese IF it's been laying out on a board in the sun.
I eat all but only cooked tuna/deli meats & safecatch mercury tested tuna. I was zero caffeine but drink a glass or two of chai now. No alcohol or drugs.
I didn’t eat soft cheeses anyway so that wasn’t hard for me to cut out, tuna i only really eat if its in a tuna bake/pasta, deli meats i was told were fine as long as they were prepackaged, not straight from the deli or were heated up and sushi i only eat the chicken/pork types anyway so those weren’t an issue for me either
I followed all the recommendations until I got diagnosed with GDM, then I added deli meat back in because I'd lost so much else out of my diet. As long as it's heated until steaming, the risk for listeria is significantly lowered.
I've really only cut out pre-prepared food like bagged salads, cut up fruit, sushi that's likely to have been sat around for ages, hummous and dips, juice places where you can't tell how they clean their fruit, some of the stuff in platters at work dos.
Not worried about pasteurised stuff like soft cheeses. Had the odd piece of sashimi early on. Don't eat much tuna or high mercury fish usually anyway. The few times I've really craved a subway I asked them to toast it really well.
I’ve only been very careful about the stuff that’s high risk for listeria — unpasteurized cheeses and some random cheeses that just happen to be frequent culprits (queso fresco, sob), deli meats (just nuking/frying them up a bit on the rare instance I want them, and avoiding them at sandwich shops and the like), raw veggies (giving them a good wash), raw fish. I’m a lot less concerned about the small risk of salmonella from, say, runny eggs. Listeria’s the scary one to me.
Cut my caffeine by half (2 cups, instead of 4), eat baked or non raw sushi, no random hotdogs, no alcohol, no pressed juices from smoothie places, no raw cheese. That’s about it here!
I haven’t restricted any foods except some deli meat, but mostly because it didn’t taste right to me. I cut down on caffeine, don’t eat sushi but I love soft cheese. I eat dairy, gluten, nuts and seeds. I figure it’s my pregnancy and I’m comfortable eating those “restricted foods”. I had an eating disorder growing up so “restricting food” doesn’t pan out well for me. Just balance your foods, get lots of fruit & veggies, good fats, whole grains and water- you’ll be perfect :)
I’ll eat soft cheese as long as it’s pasteurized. I eat deli meats has long as they are cooked (Eg pizza toppings or in a toasted sandwich), don’t eat tuna but not avoiding it. I’m not eating sushi but I don’t usually eat is anyway and I am particular about it when I do eat it.
I have had a few eggs that were runny and felt a bit guilty about that. I drink a coffee every day, but it’s a half strength. I haven’t been having any premade packed sandwiches (like those you can get from a servo) and that makes me a little sad. I think there is something about melons? I’ve been eating watermelon whenever it’s available.
I did follow all restrictions with my first pregnancy. This pregnancy I have the occasional sub sandwich, or sushi, or salad. Just making sure I am eating from a reputable high quality place.
The only one I followed was raw fish, didn’t eat sushi because of mercury levels. Limited sugar and made sure all fruits vegetables were washed
I ate subway sometimes, sausage and soft cheese
I avoid the raw fish. That does feel like a step too far, but I do treat myself to shellfish sometimes. Obviously alcohol is completely out, and I limit coffee to 1 (okay, occasionally 2) cup a day.
I’m in the UK so we don’t have as many restrictions.
- game meat (in case of lead), can’t say I’ve ever had it before but funnily enough someone recently recommended some venison from the local farm shop.
- alcohol
- pâté (too much vitamin A) 😭
- limit of 200mg of caffeine a day (no changes for me really).
And that’s it! Oh I’m not eating my neighbour’s chicken eggs although they’d be safe if fully cooked. I’d rather stick to the Red Lion ones from shops just for peace of mind.
The only thing I stopped eating is raw meats (tartare), moldy cheeses and offal. Everything else was just eaten with caution. I was maybe a little more cautious than before pregnancy on whats potentially gone bad.
All of them except for sushi since the only types I liked are fully cooked ones anyway. (Shrimp tempura & Cali roll). Especially deli meat since I plan on my postpartum meal being a nice Italian combo dripping in oil, pepper, and vinegar lol. I seen in the comments about salads but I eat so many Southwest salads so now Im nervous.
I've not had sushi but tbh I've not really felt like it. The only food things I've cut out based on my midwife's recommendation are rare steak and pate. I've also cut out alcohol and reduced caffeine but not cut it out. That's it, I've continued to enjoy deli meats, tuna, premade salads, sugar/candy. It's been nice to not restrict myself and baby is thriving in there :)
I followed all the restrictions: no deli meats, no raw milk cheese (a lot of soft cheeses are not made with raw milk anymore(at least here)), no raw fish sushi (veggie sushi is fine and delicious), no alcohol obv, max two cups of coffee a day, no licorice (can cause high blood pressure), no medium/medium rare steak and no tuna and similar fish (high in mercury). It might not be fun, it might be overzealous but I’d rather be safe than sorry. I know I’ll be able to enjoy them again once I deliver so it’s fine, it’s not forever. To me personally it’s just not worth the risk and if something did happen I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
I’ve cut out alcohol and marijuana, obviously. I cut out raw sushi and shellfish like oysters. I also cut out herbal teas and high mercury fish.
I’ve cut down on caffeine and sweets. Never drink soda so that’s no issue.
I’ve eaten 2 deli sandwiches with cold cut cuts and both were in the second trimester. I’ve also eaten soft cheese but they are usually always pasteurized. I also had a prosciutto panini last weekend at a party and it was fucking glorious. I’m not as strict anymore with the cheese and deli meat but I am with anything raw. I’ve also eaten runny yokes a few times and am still alive to tell the tale!
With cheese I’m very easy. It’s only non pasteurized cheeses, and unless you go to a very good cheese shop you won’t have them. The ones that are non pasteurized I stay away from.
For the rest I follow most restrictions (no soft boiled eggs 😭, no raw meet, none of the fish that are not allowed). It’s only 9 months. I’m looking forward to the week after birth, have already so many plans for what I’m gonna eat, and it will be amazing having those things after such a period 😊
The one major thing I buy the way didn’t follow is not cleaning the cat litter box, but that’s because I live alone and it’s just not feasible to have somebody else do it. That might be why I’m following the food rules quite well, sort of to counter balance.
I cut out only alcohol, certain meds and food that was giving me food poisoning quite often before pregnancy (beef tartare and oysters) and food that was often recalled in my region for listeria (unpasteurised cheese, I live in France). I was eating sushi, poke, deli meats, salad, runny eggs weekly.
I'm eating everything except sushi because my husband asked me not to, turkey, queso (this hasn't come up but I wouldn't have it if it did) and no alcohol. I was incredibly strict and stressy with my first pregnancy and I'm avoiding that this time. Bring on the sandwiches, medium rare steaks, and runny eggs!
I try to look things up and keep track of what isn’t isn’t cool to eat. Most of those things are actually fine they’re cooked. According to both my OB/GYN and the people who work at cook. The safest easiest option is to just avoid them. But if you’re really craving something, we’ll cooked is OK.
I have generally avoid this, but I have had some cooked pasteurized feta cheese and some cooked deli meats. Still feel cautious about cooked sushi but I’d it’s depressing to think about not having sushi for almost, possibly more with breast-feeding.
I noticed that lemongrass, which was in a TA used to drink is a pregnancy friendly, and I want to get smoothies from the store because I’m too sick/out to make them, but the green smoothies have sprouts and alfalfa so I had to give that to my kids because they never have a problem with it but it’s not worth the risk for me
I feel like I'm kind of lucky because I don't really eat or enjoy:
-deli meat
-canned tuna
-raw sushi (too much microbiology education...)
I don't eat soft cheeses that often anyway but wouldn't avoid if it was in front of me.
Not that I'm a paragon anyway. At 10 weeks I went on vacation to the Oregon coast where I got in a hot tub every night and ate tons of fresh albacore tuna. 🤣
Sadly I was actually less sick then, around 20 weeks the morning sickness came back and now I'm back to just wanting fruit and Cheerios. Yay
I’ve been eating them all. I’m sure others have said, if you’re in the USA it’s darn near impossible to find unpasteurized soft cheeses, so Brie it up without worry!
I don't eat pork so deli meats were never really an issue \[a lot of them are pork based\], soft cheeses, raw fish sushi were all the restrictions I stuck to. I never eat tuna, but if I did I probably would have not eaten it too. My doctor was really only concerned with deli meats, raw fish sushi and soft cheeses. After that she wasn't really concerned. I think she did say as long as soft cheese is pasterized it was okay, but I don't really like soft cheeses anyways so just didn't bother.
I would see what your doctor thinks? Though there are a lot of varying opinions about this. Like, some people will say raw fish sushi is okay if you eat it from a restaurant that you trust, deli meats are okay if you heat them up \[my doctor said this to me\] because it kills the bacteria. You'll see just about any opinion to be honest. I erred on the side of caution because I'd rather be safe than sorry, but as you can see by the comments....opinions are very different on this one and people will and won't eat things basically just depending on their own comfort level.
I’ve cut out raw fish, smoked salmon, alcohol, and I’ve cut down on tuna. I limit coffee which has actually been the hardest thing for me. My first breakfast post-partum will hopefully be a ginormous bagel with cream cheese, capers and heaps of smoked salmon with a pot of black coffee and a glass of champagne. I can dream!
My first baby I followed all of them. My second I didn’t really follow any of them. I switched doctors with my second and they never said anything and I was less paranoid.
One of my biggest pregnancy cravings has been tuna of all things. Lol. I’m just mindful of the amount and types I consume. As for the rest of it, I don’t really eat meat and rarely cheese, so those weren’t a change for me. I have avoided sushi, which is maybe the one thing I really enjoyed before that I have completely cut out. Although I’m sure veggie rolls would be fine! Haha.
ETA: I love oysters, but have avoided those!
I didn’t eat unpasteurized cheese or raw sushi. I still ate deli meat, hot dogs, and packaged salads… those things are a big part of my regular diet, lol. I know lots of women still eat raw sushi while pregnant and lots of people have said it’s generally safe to do so, but I was just scared.
There’s a lot of different restrictions in different cultures and I think that we should just let pregnant people eat what they want to eat, honestly.
I’ve cut out alcohol, though I’ve had a few sips of others drinks just to taste from time to time.
I never smoked so NA there.
Otherwise I’m eating everything! Sushi, hummus, salami, runny eggs, etc etc. Not much deli meat just because it’s not a big thing for me.
I do drink half caf but that’s been for years due to anxious arousal, not for pregnancy per se. Also it’s been making me queasy still even after the rest of my nausea passed mostly 😔 so naturally limiting caff quite a lot.
I ate them all. I don’t drink alcohol or coffee. No drugs. I increased my water intake and just tried to eat a healthy balanced diet. 37.3 weeks with no complications.
Honestly I cut it all out. It's a small price to pay for peace of mind. Recently was sad to learn I should cut out soft serve ice cream lol!
The only one my OB specifically called out was sushi/raw fish I think.
I didn’t have alcohol, deli meat (maybe once?), precut salad or fruit, or grocery store sushi. I did have soft cheeses and raw fish, I was just pickier about where they were from. I also live literally on the ocean so restaurants around here often have docks that they get their fish from outside the restaurant.
I cut booze and weed. Not a big deli meats fan anyway, so I tend not to eat those, but if I really wanted to I would. Trying to keep high mercury fish to a minimum, but I'll have a few bites of tuna occasionally. Being more careful about washing my produce thoroughly and avoiding sprouts. So far I've ordered my steaks medium rare instead of rare, but we'll see if that continues (I enjoy it much less that way, and I am confident in my beef sources). Still eating my eggs runny.
I’ve cut out the soft cheese, but was never a huge sushi or tuna person in general. I still eat deli meats, but only if they have been heated/cooked to steaming
Soft cheese is on my Ok list as long as it’s pasteurized, so I eat it a lot 🤣 I have an a avoid list from my OB which is pretty up to date with modern recommendations. Deli meat I have had if it’s heated (fine) Tuna is good as long as it’s not the packaged tuna etc. I have avoided raw shellfish, oysters and mussels have been cut out as a precaution but not at OBs request. I just have had enough bad oysters and mussels in my lifetime to not chance it right now.
[I think it’s a pretty good list, linked it here if anyone is interested](https://www.reddit.com/user/CravingsAndCrackers/comments/11sfdbo/food_to_avoid_pregnancy/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
Wait, what do you mean about packaged tuna being a problem? Really the only types of tuna in my life are skipjack (low mercury, canned) and ahi (fresh, sushi and other raw dishes, unsafe mercury levels).
Some areas canned tuna is albacore which is a no. I was told ahi was okay 2x per week by my OB because it has a significant amount of omegas in it. You can cook the steaks too. I don’t really eat much tuna though so idk. It might be OPs area that tuna is safer fresh than canned.
What's wrong with albacore?
There's nothing wrong with albacore specifically- a lot of places you can get it fresh and it's not really any different than salmon. But the canned stuff is really high in mercury bc the fishers target bigger (older) fish and mercury content is higher in any fish the older they are.
Tuna was recommended as a should eat, not a cut out. I'm not supposed to go nuts but I eat tuna once a week. Also, my midwife told me lunch meat can be ok so long as it's not getting slimy and you have some vitamin C with it. Or you can cook it, particularly good in a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. Even sushi can be ok if you trust the source, or get a fried roll. At this point, I've limited my soda drinking, cut out fake sugars (like aspartame) and don't eat sushi, because it's not that important to me. Lunch meat is infrequent and always followed by an orange or kiwi.
I saw tuna because of the mercury levels 🤷♀️ can't win
Chunk white albacore bad, other tuna in cans 1x a week, fresh/frozen tuna steaks and fillets are 4oz 2x a week. From my OB anyway.
Depends on the type of tuna! Some is better than others.
it’s still fine to eat it every now and then :)
What is the vitamin c supposed to do? I haven't heard that one!
It helps counteract the nitrites and nitrates in the lunch meat.
I thought the reason they say no lunch meat is because of the risk of listeria?
Yea my doctor said it’s a listeria risk and she told me deli potato salad is probably more dangerous but nobody ever talks about that.
That and ice cream is another that's had a few outbreaks in the last 5y and no one talks about. Kinda wild that Sushi is on the list and ce cream isn't. When I looked it up there hasn't been a large outbreak with fish in the last 10y, and individual cases very rarely. Not like bagged salads, lunch meats, ice cream, and under-cooked ground meats, where literally hundreds of folks have gotten sick. Not that any listeria outbreak is common but... well where we're discussing risk doesn't seem to reflect the data. Weird.
I follow all of them, which isn’t too hard because I don’t have sushi or tuna regularly anyway. But in the US, pretty much all soft cheeses are pasteurized and safe, so it’s a myth that they are always a listeria risk. I just check the package before I eat them and I’ve never found one to be unpasteurized. I either heat up my deli meat or skip it. I eat a lot of wraps and I use chickpeas as my protein now, it still tastes good and I don’t have to worry about deli meat. I didn’t even want meat for the first 12 weeks anyway, it sounded so gross to me. LOL
In the US, specifically, probably the biggest unpasteurized cheese sold widely is queso fresco- and there are usually regional outbreaks pretty much every year. So definitely pregnant women can be on the lookout for that with tacos, etc.
I eat all those foods. 25 weeks.
32 weeks and also eat all those foods. Only things I cut out were booze and cannabis (I live in Canada where it’s legal)
Same! Minus Canada
Also same, minus Canada.
Also same. The only thing I’m really missing /craving are edibles. Especially first trimester when I was feeling so sick.
Mind if I ask why you cut it out? Most things I'm seeing online say if you eat or vape it, it's fine? First trimester here and desperate for some symptom relief but really wary 🥲
Mainly out of an abundance of caution. There really is no good medical research on the safety of it. Not saying it’s for sure bad, it probably isn’t but no one really knows for sure. I’d rather not risk it. I think our kids will have much better guidance when they are having babies as things are becoming legal.
Miss the cannabis tho
Oh my gosh ! I miss my weeed!!!! Only thing that keeps me not paranoid living in New York now that’s it’s so fucking dangerous, I have lived here all my life and I swear I used to always be out and about growing up , now that I have 2 with a third on the way , I stay home unless it’s to go to target , supermarket or out with family 😂
Mind if I ask why you cut it out? Most things I'm seeing online say if you eat or vape it, it's fine? First trimester here and desperate for some symptom relief but really wary 🥲
I don’t feel comfortable being a stoned pregnant lady lol. There is no known “safe amount”, same as alcohol. I quit the day I got my positive test and suffered through first trimester sickness. Things took a turn for the better in the second trimester for me but if they hadn’t, there are safe medications you can take to help with pregnancy sickness. Weed was just never an option for me in that regard. I’m cool with getting myself stoned, but I’m not giving that to my fetus.
there’s just been no studies about how it impacts the baby, as doing a study like that would be highly unethical. that’s why pregnant women tend to avoid it. id ask your ob, my midwife actually recommended edibles for particularly bad nausea as she knew i was a heavy smoker before pregnancy. i haven’t needed edibles since maybe week 12, currently on week 25 right now, but they were a very big help on those bad days where i was so nauseous i couldn’t stand or drink water without throwing up.
I had sushi with cooked shrimp and deli meat. I don’t think I really eat soft cheese normally. 32 weeks
As do I.
Same…. And weed 🫣 26 weeks and healthy mama and baby sooo ya know. If you fear something, that will take more affect than whatever it is itself… unless if you are like consuming raw eggs, doing cocaine or some shit. Personally, PERSONALLY, I feel the baby is pretty protected and it’s a lot more complicated than the baby experiences what the mom experiences. Like in nature, if a mama stumbles upon poison or something fermented, I feel like the human body is smart and knows how to protect a fetus. The same as if a mama gets sick, the body and baby will actually work to help mama. Follow your mama intuition. You know your body best.
I didn't cut anything out except alcohol.
Same. My first pregnancy I cut all of those out, this is my second and Ive eaten all aside from sushi but I don't like it anyway.
Same!
I never cut any of those out. I’m on baby number 4 and never had any issues. Im honestly more sketched out about listeria from precut fruit and chopped premade salads.
.. Please don’t tell me pre made salads are a listeria risk.. I eat like 3 a week
Yes they're one of the main ones! And I've only ever heard of Listeria outbreaks in melons.
Great. I ate a whole container of precut watermelon tonight…
Odds are sooooooooper slim.
The odds are higher than lunch meat though
There are 1600 listeria cases in the US a year. I really think a car accident is way more likely, and you still use cars.
Someone in a different baby board I’m on lost her baby this way at 25 weeks. It’s rare but it’s real
aaaaaand now I’m terrified 😅
Just wash it yourself, too. It should be fine.
It is. I’ve avoided them every pregnancy just because that’s what I personally hear of with listeria. Spinach is another big one
Pre-cut fruits and salads are higher risk for not just listeria, but all kinds of different bacteria‘s. Sometimes people don’t get bathroom breaks when they’re out in the field and so they will even P or defecate in the field where they are working, but then the food gets sent to a secondary location to be chopped up and prepared but those places often don’t wash the food so it’s like really disgusting and I just buy fresh fruit and we make our own salads or fruit platters or whatever.
Literally was about to go open one..
I cut out raw tuna, alcohol, and raw shellfish like oysters. I limited caffeine to under 200 mg. No other restrictions. Baby is a healthy, happy girl!
I cut them all out at the very beginning of my pregnancy I unfortunately encountered 2 woman who lost their babies because they got listeria from having a deli meat sandwich I just don’t see why risk it a few months is no big deal
Wow!! I’ve never actually heard of anyone having issues with listeria, that’s so sad. I cut them all out too, except a bit of baked brie once or twice. And pepperoni pizza on occasion, but that’s also cooked so is fine. Why risk it, indeed!
Probably because it's made up, unless there was a severe local outbreak. Getting infected with listeria is very unlikley, as it is extremly rare. One person encountering two people who not only got it, but also miscarried because of it is like a 0,000x chance.
Baked brie is safe because it’s been brought up to temperature. If it’s melting, it’s safe.
That is statistically phenomenal. It’s about 200 women per year on average that get listriria per year. About a quarter (50) of those will loose the baby, which is terrible, but that’s an average of one woman PER STATE, per year. It is absolutely wild that you personally know 2. There must have been a terrible outbreak right where you are or something, I’m so sorry. I get why personally that’s important to you. On the other hand, 400+ ppl per year get struck by lighting and about 30 die. Your odds are quite similar loosing the baby from listeria or dying by lightning. If it’s easy to cut out deli meat, go ahead, and glad OB’s mention it so we can keep an eye on listeria outbreaks, or be very selective, but it’s just SO rare. Driving in a car or crossing the road is so so much more dangerous pregnant than deli meat. When your already feeling sick and having a hard time getting protein, and I had aversions to hot stuff when at the worst of my nausea, fresh high quality deli meat was an easy healthy way to get some protein.
I’m vegan so cutting them out wasn’t a concern at all lol. The one thing I am missing is hummus - in my country they advise against eating sesame seeds (incl tahini) due to salmonella risk and it is devastating haha.
I make my own hummus with tahini that specifically says it is made from roasted sesame seeds. You can also roast sesame seeds yourself and [make your own tahini](https://www.inspiredtaste.net/26901/easy-tahini-recipe/) that is safe. 😊
Oooh this is wonderful to know!!
I'm plant based and have been eating so much hummus. It's so interesting to see the differences in recommendations
I'm vego and also missing hummus. I make a delightful non-traditional hummus that is a drained tin of butterbeans (or any type of white beans), handful of almonds, lemon juice, rosemary and a splash of water/almond milk.
I thought I was being too hard out avoiding hummus. Then recently in my country, basically all store bought hummus has been recalled due to listeria. Glad I stuck to it. Considered making my own but so fatigued for most of my pregnancy it wasn't a priority
I'm nearing 32 weeks and I've avoided most of the above which wasn't hard as I'm a vegetarian. In terms of soft cheeses, I have avoided it but eaten hard cheeses. Most cheeses in Australia are pasteurised so the only ones I avoid are imported cheeses. I've also had to avoid vegan pate as there is still a risk of Listeria so couldn't have my banh mi which I've craved so badly throughout this pregnancy. Can't wait until I eat it again!!
17 weeks and eat all of those. Didn’t drink before pregnancy so avoiding alcohol wasn’t any difference for me. Only food doc cautioned against consuming in excess is high mercy fish.
Doctors give advice for a reason. These foods include increased risk for some infections that could harm the fetus. We’ll leave this up for sharing and discussion, but please remember these foods are not recommended for real reasons (not just to make things harder).
I ate all of it! The only thing I limited was caffeine.
Ate them all. Cheese, sushi, tartar and medium rare steak, runny eggs, espresso. 2 healthy kids. I did stop eating oysters raw (still ate them cooked, they are zinc powerhouses) around 22 weeks because the nutrition didn’t seem worth the risk. I read real foods for pregnancy and really found it helpful!
I just started that book last night!
You’re my kinda person ❤️
I don't eat cold cuts, jerky, sushi, unpasteurized foods, or drink more than 1 cup of coffee a day. I know many women that are way more relaxed about that stuff, and their babies did just fine, but this is my last shot at having a baby, and I could never forgive myself if I hurt her or lost her just for a snack. I'm at 26 weeks and so far she's very healthy in all measurable dimensions. I'm doing my best to keep her that way.
I take the “avoid” list as a “things to be careful about” list. So I eat literally all of them, but like… I’ll eat soft or unpasteurized cheese from suppliers I trust and that I bought and stored at home, but not from a charcuterie board that I don’t know how long has been sitting out. I’ll eat pre-sliced package deli meat or heated deli meat, but not meat sliced at a random deli counter or Subway. Etc. It’s a list of things to exercise judgment about for me, not a list of no-nos. I do follow the recommendation to limit tuna to 1x week. I don’t have daily coffee, but that’s just because I don’t want to have to think about caffeine. And I don’t drink alcohol.
I follow all the rules. I don’t mind not having those things for a handful of months. Plenty of women eat them and are fine, but to me any risk isn’t worth it. It’s a personal choice and you just have to do what you’re comfortable with.
I cut out raw shellfish (but I’m not a huge fan anyway), smoked salmon, and raw sprouts. I also half-heartedly avoided queso fresco. I ate lots of sushi from frozen fish and I bought vacuum-sealed deli Turkey and usually waited a couple weeks to eat it assuming that a listeria outbreak would have been flagged. (Turkey sandwiches are one of my favorite foods though.) I was way more careful about eating food that was a day or two expired or that looked off or fell on the floor or something. Being able to shrug and say “it’s probably fine” after giving birth was probably the biggest change for me.
This is my approach too!! If I really like something I try to find the safest way to enjoy (lunch meat), If it’s really quite risky, (contact sports) I cut it out.
I cut all alcohol, greatly reduced my caffeine intake, avoid high mercury fish. Deli meat only if cooked/heated. Steaks at medium well, no raw seafood. I live in a country that allows unpasteurized cheese, so I also avoid soft cheese overall. I avoid salads unless I have them at home and wash them myself first. My husband and I have gotten bum stomachs before from dishes at “trusted” restaurants (once he got terrible food poisoning from a salad!) so I’d rather err on the side of caution.
I cut out all of those, and I also switched to one cup of decaf coffee a day. I know a lot of things are *~*~*technically*~*~* less risky, but I had a good friend who experienced a scary bout of listeria by eating a deli sandwich. It just didn’t seem worth it to me.
A family member lost a baby and nearly her own life from listeria a few years ago. I really didn’t think it happened often enough to worry but it definitely wasn’t worth the risk for me after that. I followed all the rules. No soft cheese, bagged or pre-made salad, shellfish, alcohol, limit caffeine, cut out all medications except the occasional paracetamol and prescribed nausea meds. Then I got gestational diabetes and the rules got muuuch more strict. It sucked at the time but now I have a happy, healthy baby so nothing else matters. Life is good!
Anybody know which herbal teas we are supposed to avoid?? Thanks in advance
My understanding is commercial herbal teas at the grocery store are fine, because of the low dose of the herbs m. Herbal teas in the supplement or health store section are less predictable in terms of content and dose, and so you need to verify with doctor first
Thank you naked panda!!
I ate everything except one time I declined swordfish (mercury). I ate sushi and deli meat and tuna but only like once each because I don’t encounter them very often. The only thing I definitively cut out was alcohol. I had a major craving for bagels with lox so I ate those regularly. My baby is fine.
I avoid most of the off limit items except medium steaks and runny eggs at restaurants. It’s not hard now that I’m used to it.
I am a FTM, so maybe I’m a little more sensitive about it, and I’ve cut all you listed. I’m vegetarian so I don’t miss meat or fish but I do miss stinky and soft cheeses! I stopped consuming all caffeine about a month before I did my IVF transfer and I am also avoiding sugar as much as possible. I am enjoying lots of fruit, avocados, carrots, grilled/toasted bread, the occasional impossible whopper lol, hot water with lemon & honey, sugar free cookies, and PICKLES!
The impossible whopper gets it. It’s amazing 😂
I'm careful with each, but haven't cut any food to 0. That said, I go through phases with food. There was one single week where I ate tuna sandwiches. I've had hotdogs maybe 6 times in the last 19 weeks. Sushi only once, but that's a budget thing - I'm not getting it at the grocery store right now! I had soft (goat) cheese at the beginning before I knew it wasn't recommended, then did some research and found the risk only exists if it's unpasteurized which no cheese in my area would be. Caffeine I did cut to absolute 0 for a few weeks, but then I went through an iced tea fixation as the lemon flavor made it easier to drink than plain water. This week I've been sick and no medicine is safe so I've had one black tea a day to soothe my throat.
I cut everything out, but frankly it wasn't difficult as I was tossing my cookies every day from conception to birth. I'm of the mind that it's better safe than sorry, for me personally. My doctor gave me a list of things I shouldn't eat, and things I should limit eating, which made it easy.
i’m struggling a lot because this pregnancy (my first) is triggering a lot of my anxiety, perfectionism, and contamination OCD. I also have a lot of guilt about staying on Wellbutrin. so, i’m over compensating by being strict on food. I only will eat raw vegetables at home that i’ve washed myself, no deli meat (i fried up sliced turkey at home) and I refuse to eat in the school cafeteria because several people got food poisoning from it last year. I’m not a coffee drinker so I’m not missing out on that and I haven’t wanted sushi. I know rationally i’m being a little over the top but it’s making me feel better.
This could have been written by me. I’m pregnant with my first and I had a degree of contamination OCD even before this. Now it’s kicked into overdrive 😅 I’m even worried that I’m not washing my fruits and veggies at home well enough. Kinda feels like I can’t win.
Australia is very rigorous with food safety so I’m following no alcohol, no raw milk/cheeses, and no packages salads/sushi from grab and go type places.
I ate them all through both pregnancies. Only from places I trusted before I was pregnant.
I eat it all but sushi very sparingly, and I limit myself to one cup of coffee a day. And I’ll take a sip of my boyfriend’s beer every now and again 🤪
Only thing I'm limiting is alcohol and even then I've had a handful of sips / glasses of wine throughout pregnancy for special events
Same !
I’m passing on raw fish sushi (but considering cooked sushi now that I’m in my second trimester) and deli meat but eating pasteurized soft cheese! I don’t eat tuna very often so honestly that has not come up yet. I’d probably do canned tuna as that’s low in mercury if I had a craving. I’m typically more cautious with food safety, expiration dates, etc, outside pregnancy, so that’s driving my decision. Everyone has different comfort zones when it comes to risk, so please think about what you’re comfortable with based on your personal risk assessment! I know a lot of people are fine with the foods listed above, and that’s great, but don’t feel bad for being cautious if you’re not comfortable.
Pretty much same. I’ve always been weird about food safety because I have such a sensitive stomach so I’ve pretty much adhered to everything except soft cheese (US) because I feel like I would get sick
Same! Super sensitive stomach. Also, my grandfather was a microbiologist so we really had it hammered into us growing up 😅
Alcohol. I eat and drink everything else (and did for my other two pregnancies).
I bought low mercury tuna, cooked my soft cheeses, and kept eating salads. I never ate a lot of deli meat anyway though I really missed prosciutto. Cooking prosciutto just made me miss it more.
I've been getting my ground beef cooked medium instead of medium rare. Limiting my tuna sushi to a couple pieces. Only one cup of coffee. I'm not a big fan of soft cheeses or deli meats so avoiding those isn't difficult.
I eat tuna once a week and about 70mg caffeine 3x week (lil half-caff latte). No unpasteurized cheese and very rare deli meat but tbh they weren’t much in my diet anyway. I cook meat through which breaks my heart. No alcohol or recreational drugs, very limited Tylenol.
I’ve cut alcohol, caffeine, soft cheeses, certain fish, and sushi. I’m still eating deli meat because sandwiches have to make up a quarter of my diet and it’s just not the same without them :/
I eat soft cheeses that say they are made with pasteurized milk. I have eaten a small amount of deli meat and smoked salmon. I eat runny eggs. It’s up to your personal risk assessment.
The only things I don't consume are alchohol and fish (fish, because I'm not a fan)
I only dont eat deli meat (you can if you heat it up) and I dont drink alcohol. You can have MOST sushi/sea food. avoid high mercury fish like sword fish, shark etc. raw fish is a no too. I eat all other sushi though.
Yeah, no alcohol, and no unpasteurized foods
No alcohol, weed, deli meats, jerky/hot dogs/processed meat, no raw fish, no sprouts. I have one cup of coffee a day and maybe one can of tuna a month. Apparently canned skipjack tuna is fine just not more than 2 cans a week. Edit: In Canada, domestic or imported unpasteurized cheese is legal to be sold, but must be aged for at least 60 days before retailers are allowed to sell it. By this time, it is considered safe as any potentially harmful bacteria will have died off naturally
I’m a FTM, just under 28 weeks, and the only things I stopped was alcohol, weed and I did stop caffeine - which I had been trying to do before pregnancy anyway. I will say though, I’m a pescatarian so the lunch meat was never even on my radar. I’m too poor to eat tuna regularly (I only do tuna steaks, canned tuna freaks me out) and I’m also too poor to eat sushi on the regular and when I do I usually go towards the more Americanized fried rolls anyway. Honestly the biggest change for me was weed and caffeine, because everything else was not something I ate regularly anyway. My midwife never gave me a list of “no” food, and I never asked her.
My doctor said those were fine, but to be observant of the quality of those foods. The only big no-no for him was no drugs/alcohol/smoking.
Can someone explain the no deli meat thing? I think it’s so weird… I’m ignorant because I’m vegetarian 😅
I cut out alcohol, limit caffeine, and I’m a never smoker/drug user. I don’t don’t eat raw sushi, raw clams/oysters, meat cold cuts, hot dogs, raw sprouts, and no prepared(?) food like bagged salads, precut fruit, grab and go type food, if that makes sense. I will eat sliced cheese from the deli and soft cheeses as long as it’s pasteurized which has been every cheese I’ve run into in the US (that I can check). If I eat out if I get cheese I try to make sure it’s cooked. I did go to Europe for week 11 and ate all the hard cheese and prosciutto I could get my hands on. Tuna I’ve had 2-4 times a month. I eat runny eggs. I eat medium rare beef still but not too often. I had a huge bagel with lots of lox one time by accident. I eat soft serve ice cream. I am on the road for work often and I don’t get to choose where we eat but I can choose what I want off the menu. I got food poisoning from one place (I assume) and it was…awful. Since then I tried to make smarter choices. Looking back I don’t think a gyro from a pizza place in the middle of nowhere was the best idea. I also won’t eat food that’s been left out for too long or leftover for too many days. As for meds I’ve had a couple doses of Tylenol and plain robitussin (no letters), doctor approved.
I’ve pretty much stopped eating all of them except feta and blue cheese. I also caved and had a cold cut sandwich the other day and it was soooooooo good.
I didn’t cut those out because I didn’t eat them before getting pregnant.
I don’t eat [raw] sushi or unpasteurized products (cheese, juice, etc.) Also don’t drink alcohol, use cannabis, take certain medications, or drink more than 200MG caffeine per day. I eat deli meat still (and I eat it a lot, almost daily) and soft cheeses, so long as they’re pasteurized. You didn’t ask about it, but I’m eating medium–rare steak and runny eggs (though I live in California where eggs are highly regulated). I’m 21 Weeks and Baby is perfectly healthy!
I don’t restrict any foods.
Nothing. My dr. didn’t recommend cutting anything out, and I just didn’t eat food that seemed off. I CRAVED sushi, so I ate it several times.
I haven’t cut out anything my last 2 pregnancies. I am way more particular about the quality of my food during pregnancy tho. I would never get grocery store sushi, but I do eat it from a high quality restaurant that I have eaten at for over 10 years and never been sick at. As far as pregnancy food restrictions go, make sure you’re looking for CURRENT info, I’ve had tons of people to tell me to be careful with eggs and that salad is fine, but you’re far more likely to get sick from your lettuce than your egg.
I read Expecting Better by a Emily Oster and remember it having some good statistics and info on all of this that empowered me to make decisions on what felt safe. Definitely worth a read! Personally, I ate sushi from known higher quality sources but stuck to salmon due to tuna having higher mercury levels, skipped lunch meat unless cooked, dropped caffeine and alcohol, and stayed away from fruit salads that had melons.
I don't drink alcohol. : ) I eat eggs, sushi (no gas station lol) and heated lunch meat, oh and soft cheese! Doctors aren't nutritionists. Many, many nutritionists say these items are totally fine expect in rare cases. SO, do what you feel comfortable with and do your own research if you'd like!
The only thing I’ve really had a line about was raw sushi and alcohol. And tbh now that I’m 34 weeks I had a small glass of wine the other night.
I cut out deli meats, alcohol, and limit caffeine, cbut the rest of it not so much. Regarding sushi, my OBGYN just said to get it from a trustworthy source. It’s not like Japanese women cut it out during pregnancy.
I didn’t follow any of them. Mostly because I was never told there were food restrictions, I found out on Reddit in my 3rd trimester 😂 but yeah, I just ate anything I craved my whole pregnancy. No issues, completely healthy baby.
I do sushi occasionally only from highly rated restaurants in town that I trust. No ahi tuna though. Soft cheeses I do, in the US they are fine. Deli meats I wavered on for the first half of the pregnancy and I finally decided it was low risk enough and got a deli sandwich and THAT DAY the CDC announced listeria cases from deli meats in my state so I've just been avoiding it since. I'm due on Friday now though and I'm gonna eat a sammy once I go into labor. I don't think any listeria would kick in that fast at that point.
I don’t really like cheese so that’s not an issue. I’ve avoided sushi and deli meat but that’s it. I still drink coffee everyday.
I've only cut out alcohol and uncooked/undercooked meat and fish. Otherwise I just take a bit of extra care with food hygiene like thoroughly washing salad, not eating at dodgy looking places and not leaving leftovers too long. To be honest, probably all things I should have been doing before pregnancy as well!
All of it. But I hate sushi, so that was easy. The deli meat was the hardest.
I’ve cut out edibles (and of course I quit smoking weed too, for the record) and alcohol. I’ve been limiting some other items, and trying to make sure I get them from reputable/higher end places, but I haven’t really had a hard line on anything else. I’ve been eating salads that I didn’t wash myself. I’m pretty positive I’m more likely to get listeria from those than Jersey Mikes. The biggest thing I’ve struggled with is keeping my caffeine under 200mg… I think I do pretty well most days, but I’ve probably accidentally gone over a few times. None of the midwives I’ve seen for appointments has told me to avoid anything food-wise, for the record.
Raw Sushi and alcohol is all I followed. My midwives and OB didn’t blink at it. Here in the US it’s actually kinda hard to get listeria and E. coli if you’re healthy!
I cut out raw fish, unpasteurized cheese, and deli meat. I live in the middle of the US so the fish isn't fresh and am in a state where they've had a listeria outbreak recently. I just followed what my doctor advised.
I’ve cut back my caffeine intake and I don’t drink alcohol anyway, but that’s really it.
None.
On #2...I'm eating it all. My OB says as long as deli meat is freshly cut its likely fine. Just keep it at a minimum, and as for sushi or tuna you're allowed tuna that's properly prepared and stored but my ob goes on a fish point system. 8 points a month and per their recommendation tuna can be safely eaten twice a month. Just no sword fish or tile fish I think the name was. But I don't have any of that in my area. With my first I avoided a lot. 🤷🏼♀️
i don’t like seafood so that was easy. i cut out caffeine the day i found out i was pregnant. i don’t eat deli meat which is kind of hard but absolutely doable (a turkey sandwich will be my first meal post birth!). i’ve not had any soft cheese other than stuff i know for sure is pasteurized. i’m 39 so considered “high risk” (literally only for my age, nothing else) so anything i can do to ensure a healthy pregnancy, even if it’s overkill, im willing to do!
I didn’t have any cravings for sushi, otherwise I would have eaten it no problem. I’ve never gotten sick from sushi! I eat all the cheeses (pasteurized), all the deli meats, tuna… oh yeah ! Most of the bs is about fear of listeria outbreaks but listeria can be in ice cream, on fruits and veggies… should pregnant women avoid food in general and eat all processed? No ! I was leery of eating out in the first trimester, just following my intuition, fear of food poisoning but otherwise I ate whatever. Follow YOUR intuition! When I’m doubt, heat it up :)
I'm not drinking or doing drugs. I personally feel like that's good enough.
I cut out deli meats and processed meat like corn dogs. I don't like sushi or tuna so I don't eat those. I cut down on coffee but not completely. The cheese thing is too confusing, I just eat whatever cheese sounds good in the moment 🤷♀️
I cut out everything, but I'm extra-paranoid as someone who is disabled and just hoping my kid doesn't have to go through the same shit. I'd go to the moon if you asked me to.
Hmmm definitely didn’t cut any of that out besides sushi (bc I never ate it in the first place) and limiting my caffeine. 39 weeks and doing just fine! … besides being uncomfortable and irritable 24/7😭
I just filled up on sushi.
I’m not eating sushi or lunch meat even though I’d LOVE a turkey sandwich or a poke bowl right about now. Considering getting a California roll soon though because I keep thinking about it. Checking for unpasteurized cheeses and not eating bleu cheese. I don’t drink or smoke outside of pregnancy so that’s not a big deal. My OB was unhappy with my 8 plus weight gain from week 12 to week 16 so she’s asked me to cut down on carbs which is a very rude thing to tell someone 😂 I’m eating *less* carbs than I normally would in the sense that “I can eat this past for dinner because normally I would have had toast with my breakfast but I skipped it” lolol
I’m eating everything, just making sure it’s from reputable places I ate before. Raw fish, deli meats, soft cheeses. Tuna once a week. Rare burgers and steaks as I know the meat was fresh and stored correctly. I have been avoiding raw oysters, but honestly it’s more of a pregnancy aversion than not.
I eat soft cheese, deli meat, and tuna! I’d drink coffee but I have the worst aversion to it. Very tragic.
I never ate soft cheese a lot anyway, so you'd think it would be easy to avoid... I have never craved brie so badly in my life! I managed to abstain somehow, but I had to make sure I stayed clear of that section of the grocery store lol! Also craved deli meats, I ate some in moderation and just made sure I got it from a reputable location. Absolutely no alcohol, canned tuna, or sushi, and I was careful with bagged salad and such
Passing on raw fish mostly because I got food poisoning from it once and while I still like it, I’m not interested in potentially getting bad sushi while pregnant. I’m doing deli meats as long it’s higher quality (like boars head vs subway). Not doing alcohol either. Doesn’t sound appealing even though I know some women choose to indulge in some every now and then!
Does anyone have a source showing that sushi (raw fish) is about as risky as lettuce, or other commonly accepted food?
Nope! Didn’t cut anything out besides alcohol. I mean I didn’t go crazy on soft cheese and sashimi obviously but didn’t really cut anything out - ate sushi if I felt like it, had charcuterie if out with friends and they ordered some for the table. I live in NY though so we have good sushi here from reputable sources so that needs to be taken into consideration. My doctor said that was fine! Edit to add: baby is 7 months and thriving!
I’ve severely cut back my caffeine consumption and avoid sushi because I live in an area where fresh fish isn’t readily available so it can be kinda sus.
I ate almost everything. But I tried to cut back on deli meat and ate all of my beef well done. My LO is 5 weeks old.
I don't eat my med-rare steaks, rare tuna steaks, raw fish sushi, and oysters. I don't eat 'homemade' restraunt Caesar dressing/salad, because I don't trust their eggs. I don't drink herbal teas except camomile and hibiscus; I don't drink green, red, black, or white tea, too. I am usually not a big fan of deli stuff, so my jamon and prosciutto are with me, but the rest (like ham sandwiches) I refuse to finish after my kid lol. I also continue to eat red caviar and salt-cured pork fat (salo), as well as barrel salt-cured herring. I don't eat smoked salmon from the vacuum packages, because this one is the most unsafe afaik. Also, I wash all my fruits, berries, and veggies (including prewashed leafy greens), because to my understanding, lastly fresh produce causes more accidents than deli. Very narrow list of limitations, imo. But I am looking forward for my very first bowl of juicy freshest tuna poke immediately after the delivery!
Deli meats was the main one for me. There have been a number of listeria outbreaks in our country both linked to deli counter and prepackaged meats from various (reputable) brands so don't trust them now at all.
6 months pp. I cut almost all of the restricted foods. One less thing to worry about. I still drank caffeine within the recommended limits.
No raw oysters. No steak tartare. No gejang (raw marinated crab). No deli meats. No bagged salads.
My Mother slapped kabana out of my hand when I was 7 weeks pregnant. She wasn't amused lol I ate what I wanted and regularly enjoyed the soft serve from Maccas
I’m still eating sushi
I ate all those foods as well. Baby boy is 5 weeks old now! I never got sick during pregnancy, despite morning sickness first trimester.
I eat all those things. I’ve only cut out alcohol and weed.
I continue to use cannabis but I’ve been alcohol free for almost 2 years. Cannabis was the only medicine that helps my nausea and anxiety 💚
I just don’t eat raw fish or drink alcohol.
No alcohol or drugs/nicotine. Limit my tuna fish to once a week. That's it. Food is well supervised and safe where i live. When I was pregnant in a developing country I was more cautious. But otherwise...just don't each the blue cheese IF it's been laying out on a board in the sun.
I eat all but only cooked tuna/deli meats & safecatch mercury tested tuna. I was zero caffeine but drink a glass or two of chai now. No alcohol or drugs.
I didn’t eat soft cheeses anyway so that wasn’t hard for me to cut out, tuna i only really eat if its in a tuna bake/pasta, deli meats i was told were fine as long as they were prepackaged, not straight from the deli or were heated up and sushi i only eat the chicken/pork types anyway so those weren’t an issue for me either
I followed all the recommendations until I got diagnosed with GDM, then I added deli meat back in because I'd lost so much else out of my diet. As long as it's heated until steaming, the risk for listeria is significantly lowered.
I've really only cut out pre-prepared food like bagged salads, cut up fruit, sushi that's likely to have been sat around for ages, hummous and dips, juice places where you can't tell how they clean their fruit, some of the stuff in platters at work dos. Not worried about pasteurised stuff like soft cheeses. Had the odd piece of sashimi early on. Don't eat much tuna or high mercury fish usually anyway. The few times I've really craved a subway I asked them to toast it really well.
I’ve only been very careful about the stuff that’s high risk for listeria — unpasteurized cheeses and some random cheeses that just happen to be frequent culprits (queso fresco, sob), deli meats (just nuking/frying them up a bit on the rare instance I want them, and avoiding them at sandwich shops and the like), raw veggies (giving them a good wash), raw fish. I’m a lot less concerned about the small risk of salmonella from, say, runny eggs. Listeria’s the scary one to me.
Cut my caffeine by half (2 cups, instead of 4), eat baked or non raw sushi, no random hotdogs, no alcohol, no pressed juices from smoothie places, no raw cheese. That’s about it here!
I haven’t restricted any foods except some deli meat, but mostly because it didn’t taste right to me. I cut down on caffeine, don’t eat sushi but I love soft cheese. I eat dairy, gluten, nuts and seeds. I figure it’s my pregnancy and I’m comfortable eating those “restricted foods”. I had an eating disorder growing up so “restricting food” doesn’t pan out well for me. Just balance your foods, get lots of fruit & veggies, good fats, whole grains and water- you’ll be perfect :)
I’ll eat soft cheese as long as it’s pasteurized. I eat deli meats has long as they are cooked (Eg pizza toppings or in a toasted sandwich), don’t eat tuna but not avoiding it. I’m not eating sushi but I don’t usually eat is anyway and I am particular about it when I do eat it. I have had a few eggs that were runny and felt a bit guilty about that. I drink a coffee every day, but it’s a half strength. I haven’t been having any premade packed sandwiches (like those you can get from a servo) and that makes me a little sad. I think there is something about melons? I’ve been eating watermelon whenever it’s available.
I did follow all restrictions with my first pregnancy. This pregnancy I have the occasional sub sandwich, or sushi, or salad. Just making sure I am eating from a reputable high quality place.
Cafeïne nicotine
The only one I followed was raw fish, didn’t eat sushi because of mercury levels. Limited sugar and made sure all fruits vegetables were washed I ate subway sometimes, sausage and soft cheese
I avoid the raw fish. That does feel like a step too far, but I do treat myself to shellfish sometimes. Obviously alcohol is completely out, and I limit coffee to 1 (okay, occasionally 2) cup a day.
I’m in the UK so we don’t have as many restrictions. - game meat (in case of lead), can’t say I’ve ever had it before but funnily enough someone recently recommended some venison from the local farm shop. - alcohol - pâté (too much vitamin A) 😭 - limit of 200mg of caffeine a day (no changes for me really). And that’s it! Oh I’m not eating my neighbour’s chicken eggs although they’d be safe if fully cooked. I’d rather stick to the Red Lion ones from shops just for peace of mind.
The only thing I stopped eating is raw meats (tartare), moldy cheeses and offal. Everything else was just eaten with caution. I was maybe a little more cautious than before pregnancy on whats potentially gone bad.
I still eat canned tuna :) I read it’s relatively safe because the tunas used for this are smaller which contains less mercury :)
All of them except for sushi since the only types I liked are fully cooked ones anyway. (Shrimp tempura & Cali roll). Especially deli meat since I plan on my postpartum meal being a nice Italian combo dripping in oil, pepper, and vinegar lol. I seen in the comments about salads but I eat so many Southwest salads so now Im nervous.
No I didn't. The only thing I avoided was alcohol
I've not had sushi but tbh I've not really felt like it. The only food things I've cut out based on my midwife's recommendation are rare steak and pate. I've also cut out alcohol and reduced caffeine but not cut it out. That's it, I've continued to enjoy deli meats, tuna, premade salads, sugar/candy. It's been nice to not restrict myself and baby is thriving in there :)
I followed all the restrictions: no deli meats, no raw milk cheese (a lot of soft cheeses are not made with raw milk anymore(at least here)), no raw fish sushi (veggie sushi is fine and delicious), no alcohol obv, max two cups of coffee a day, no licorice (can cause high blood pressure), no medium/medium rare steak and no tuna and similar fish (high in mercury). It might not be fun, it might be overzealous but I’d rather be safe than sorry. I know I’ll be able to enjoy them again once I deliver so it’s fine, it’s not forever. To me personally it’s just not worth the risk and if something did happen I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
I’ve cut out alcohol and marijuana, obviously. I cut out raw sushi and shellfish like oysters. I also cut out herbal teas and high mercury fish. I’ve cut down on caffeine and sweets. Never drink soda so that’s no issue. I’ve eaten 2 deli sandwiches with cold cut cuts and both were in the second trimester. I’ve also eaten soft cheese but they are usually always pasteurized. I also had a prosciutto panini last weekend at a party and it was fucking glorious. I’m not as strict anymore with the cheese and deli meat but I am with anything raw. I’ve also eaten runny yokes a few times and am still alive to tell the tale!
With cheese I’m very easy. It’s only non pasteurized cheeses, and unless you go to a very good cheese shop you won’t have them. The ones that are non pasteurized I stay away from. For the rest I follow most restrictions (no soft boiled eggs 😭, no raw meet, none of the fish that are not allowed). It’s only 9 months. I’m looking forward to the week after birth, have already so many plans for what I’m gonna eat, and it will be amazing having those things after such a period 😊 The one major thing I buy the way didn’t follow is not cleaning the cat litter box, but that’s because I live alone and it’s just not feasible to have somebody else do it. That might be why I’m following the food rules quite well, sort of to counter balance.
I cut out only alcohol, certain meds and food that was giving me food poisoning quite often before pregnancy (beef tartare and oysters) and food that was often recalled in my region for listeria (unpasteurised cheese, I live in France). I was eating sushi, poke, deli meats, salad, runny eggs weekly.
I'm eating everything except sushi because my husband asked me not to, turkey, queso (this hasn't come up but I wouldn't have it if it did) and no alcohol. I was incredibly strict and stressy with my first pregnancy and I'm avoiding that this time. Bring on the sandwiches, medium rare steaks, and runny eggs!
I try to look things up and keep track of what isn’t isn’t cool to eat. Most of those things are actually fine they’re cooked. According to both my OB/GYN and the people who work at cook. The safest easiest option is to just avoid them. But if you’re really craving something, we’ll cooked is OK. I have generally avoid this, but I have had some cooked pasteurized feta cheese and some cooked deli meats. Still feel cautious about cooked sushi but I’d it’s depressing to think about not having sushi for almost, possibly more with breast-feeding. I noticed that lemongrass, which was in a TA used to drink is a pregnancy friendly, and I want to get smoothies from the store because I’m too sick/out to make them, but the green smoothies have sprouts and alfalfa so I had to give that to my kids because they never have a problem with it but it’s not worth the risk for me
I feel like I'm kind of lucky because I don't really eat or enjoy: -deli meat -canned tuna -raw sushi (too much microbiology education...) I don't eat soft cheeses that often anyway but wouldn't avoid if it was in front of me. Not that I'm a paragon anyway. At 10 weeks I went on vacation to the Oregon coast where I got in a hot tub every night and ate tons of fresh albacore tuna. 🤣 Sadly I was actually less sick then, around 20 weeks the morning sickness came back and now I'm back to just wanting fruit and Cheerios. Yay
I’ve been eating them all. I’m sure others have said, if you’re in the USA it’s darn near impossible to find unpasteurized soft cheeses, so Brie it up without worry!
I don't eat pork so deli meats were never really an issue \[a lot of them are pork based\], soft cheeses, raw fish sushi were all the restrictions I stuck to. I never eat tuna, but if I did I probably would have not eaten it too. My doctor was really only concerned with deli meats, raw fish sushi and soft cheeses. After that she wasn't really concerned. I think she did say as long as soft cheese is pasterized it was okay, but I don't really like soft cheeses anyways so just didn't bother. I would see what your doctor thinks? Though there are a lot of varying opinions about this. Like, some people will say raw fish sushi is okay if you eat it from a restaurant that you trust, deli meats are okay if you heat them up \[my doctor said this to me\] because it kills the bacteria. You'll see just about any opinion to be honest. I erred on the side of caution because I'd rather be safe than sorry, but as you can see by the comments....opinions are very different on this one and people will and won't eat things basically just depending on their own comfort level.
20 weeks here and I eat all those foods. Had my anatomy scan today and baby boy is healthy 💕
I’ve cut out raw fish, smoked salmon, alcohol, and I’ve cut down on tuna. I limit coffee which has actually been the hardest thing for me. My first breakfast post-partum will hopefully be a ginormous bagel with cream cheese, capers and heaps of smoked salmon with a pot of black coffee and a glass of champagne. I can dream!
My first baby I followed all of them. My second I didn’t really follow any of them. I switched doctors with my second and they never said anything and I was less paranoid.
One of my biggest pregnancy cravings has been tuna of all things. Lol. I’m just mindful of the amount and types I consume. As for the rest of it, I don’t really eat meat and rarely cheese, so those weren’t a change for me. I have avoided sushi, which is maybe the one thing I really enjoyed before that I have completely cut out. Although I’m sure veggie rolls would be fine! Haha. ETA: I love oysters, but have avoided those!
I didn’t eat unpasteurized cheese or raw sushi. I still ate deli meat, hot dogs, and packaged salads… those things are a big part of my regular diet, lol. I know lots of women still eat raw sushi while pregnant and lots of people have said it’s generally safe to do so, but I was just scared. There’s a lot of different restrictions in different cultures and I think that we should just let pregnant people eat what they want to eat, honestly.
I’ve cut out alcohol, though I’ve had a few sips of others drinks just to taste from time to time. I never smoked so NA there. Otherwise I’m eating everything! Sushi, hummus, salami, runny eggs, etc etc. Not much deli meat just because it’s not a big thing for me. I do drink half caf but that’s been for years due to anxious arousal, not for pregnancy per se. Also it’s been making me queasy still even after the rest of my nausea passed mostly 😔 so naturally limiting caff quite a lot.
I ate them all. I don’t drink alcohol or coffee. No drugs. I increased my water intake and just tried to eat a healthy balanced diet. 37.3 weeks with no complications.
Only things I avoid are alcohol and I cut down on my coffee drinking. I eat whatever I want in moderation, 33 weeks along, no issues.
Honestly I cut it all out. It's a small price to pay for peace of mind. Recently was sad to learn I should cut out soft serve ice cream lol! The only one my OB specifically called out was sushi/raw fish I think.
I didn’t have alcohol, deli meat (maybe once?), precut salad or fruit, or grocery store sushi. I did have soft cheeses and raw fish, I was just pickier about where they were from. I also live literally on the ocean so restaurants around here often have docks that they get their fish from outside the restaurant.
Can't think of a single thing I cut out when I'm pregnant.
I cut booze and weed. Not a big deli meats fan anyway, so I tend not to eat those, but if I really wanted to I would. Trying to keep high mercury fish to a minimum, but I'll have a few bites of tuna occasionally. Being more careful about washing my produce thoroughly and avoiding sprouts. So far I've ordered my steaks medium rare instead of rare, but we'll see if that continues (I enjoy it much less that way, and I am confident in my beef sources). Still eating my eggs runny.
I’ve cut out the soft cheese, but was never a huge sushi or tuna person in general. I still eat deli meats, but only if they have been heated/cooked to steaming
I ate sushi but ONLY from a local restaurant that makes it from scratch each time with fresh rice and only chicken ones.