When I was pregnant, I worried a  lot about what I should and shouldn’t be eating and drinking. I wanted to give my baby the best possible chance and not eat anything that might harm him or her. The advice seemed to be the same wherever I looked. Basically, that if you eat sensibly during pregnancy and eat a balanced nutritious diet, most foods are safe. However some foods are safer than others, and some should be avoided.

Here are some guidelines:

Remember though, always ask your midwife or GP if you are unsure about anything. Everybody is different, we cannot say this is safe to eat or not – it is just a guideline.

Foods that are generally OK when you are pregnant

• Cooked food – always remembr that freshly and thoroughly cooked foods are the safest.
• Milk – Fresh, pasteurised and UHT milk and yoghurt (always eat/drink them before their use by date.
• Fresh fruit and vegetables – thoroughly wash them though.
  
• Tinned and pickled foods
• Canned meat and fish – once opened always store them  in the fridge and use them up or throw them away within 12 hours.
• Home cooked meats – make sure they are cooked thoroughly. Use immediately or store in the fridge and again use them within 12  hours.
• Home-made salads – wash all salad items thoroughly. Store them in the fridge and use them within 12 hours.
• Some cheese - Hard cheeses, semi-soft cheeses such as mozzarella, pasteurized processed cheese slices and spreads, cream cheese and cottage cheese are OK.
• Fromage frais, creme fraiche, sour cream.
• Mayonnaise, ice cream, salad dressing – as long as they haven’t been made using raw egg.
• Spicy food – but watch out for your baby kicking if you eat spicy food later in pregnancy – mine did!
  
• Honey – this is OK for pregnant women but is NOT suitable for babies under a year old.

Foods to avoid when you are pregnant

• ‘Ready to eat’ foods. In the modern world this can be harder than you 1st think. It includes pasteurised dairy products, pates, meat products (including pre-sliced chicken), cooked diced chicken (as used in sandwich shops),  uncooked smoked seafood, smoked shellfish, previously prepared coleslaw and salads.
• Pâté (including vegetable). This is because pâté can contain listeria.
• Ready made salads -they look healthy – but what have they been washed in? They are not freshly washed and therefore should be avoided.
  
• Raw seafood (oysters, sashimi or sushi) or smoked seafood (frozen or chilled)
• Shellfish.
• Cheeses such as Camembert, Brie or chevre (a type of goats’ cheese), or others that have  a similar rind. You should also avoid soft blue cheeses – cheeses are made with mould can contain listeria.
• Dips and salad dressings – which have been previously exposed to raw vegetables, even if they have been kept refrigerated
• Raw or partially cooked eggs – avoid eating raw eggs and food containing raw or partially-cooked eggs. If y9ou are pregnanct, only eat eggs when both the white and yolk are solid. This is to avoid the risk of salmonella
• Raw or undercooked meat – make sure you only eat meat that has been well cooked. This is especially important with poultry and products made from minced meat, such as sausages and burgers. Make sure these are  cooked until they are piping hot all the way through and no pink meat is left.
• Anything with a lot of vitamin A - This is because you only need a small amount of vitamin A to keep healthy and large amounts can harm an unborn baby
  Food with Vitamin A for example are:
  • liver and liver products such as liver pâté and cod liver oil supplements
  • vitamin tablets or supplements which contain vitamin A
• Avoid foods which may have high levels of listeria - Pregnant women are more likely to become infected with listeria than non pregnant people. Sometimes a listeria infection causes miscarriage, stillbirth, or infections in the baby after birth.
  Foods  most at risk of carrying listeria:
  • soft cheeses (such as brie)
  • undercooked meats and eggs
  • pate
  • shellfish
  • raw fish
  • unpasteurised milk

• Fish – Avoid eating any shark, swordfish and marlin. Limit the amount of tuna you eat. This is because of the levels of mercury in these fish. At high levels, mercury can harm a baby’s developing nervous system.
• Avoid eating more than two portions of oily fish a week.
  Oily fish includes fresh tuna (not canned tuna, which does not count as oily fish), mackerel, sardines and trout.
• Peanuts - More research is being carried out on whether pregnant women should eat peanuts or not. The theory is that the risk of your baby developing a peanut allergy is increased if you eat them while you are pregnant.  Also, your baby is at higher risk if you or a close blood relative of you or the baby’s father has a peanut allergy, asthma or eczema.

It just makes sense to be cautious and avoid peanuts if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Things to remember

1. Ensure packaging is intact, throw away any food if you see the packet is damaged
2. Always cook fish and meat all the way through
3. Always wash your hands before eating
4. Always wash your hands after handling raw meat or fish
5. Always make sure knives, cooking utensils, chopping boards etc are washed well with hot soapy water
6. Avoid food if you are unsure how it has been prepared or stored
7. Make sure any leftovers are well heated all the way through. Microwaves can unevenly heat food, this is why they always tell you to leave food to stand after heating it in a microwave. This helps the food to heat all the way through.
8. Prepare and store foods safely. When dealing with raw meat keep it separate from other  foods. Make sure the raw meat is not stored in the fridge where juices may drip onto other  foods.
9. Keep all stored food in the fridge individually wrapped or covered.
10. Thoroughly wash all raw fruit and vegetables before eating them.
11. Always check the ‘Use by’ and ‘Best before labels and don’t go over them
12. If you are unsure about any food when eating out, choose something else or ask the staff about the ingredients or how it is cooked.

Have a look at What to Eat When You’re Pregnant: Including the A-Z of What’s Safe and What’s Not for more advice.

Alcohol and caffeine

We have all seen TV programmes or news articles with pregnant women drinking heavily – most of us ar sickened by the sight. When you’re pregnant, it’s best to stop drinking alcohol altogether. But if you do drink, have no more than 1 or 2 units of alcohol, once or twice a week and don’t get drunk.

• A unit is half a pint of standard strength beer, lager or cider, or a pub measure of spirit.
• A glass of wine is about 2 units
• Alcopops are about 1.5 units.

You should limit the amount of caffeine you have each day. Caffeine occurs naturally in a range of foods, such as coffee, tea and chocolate, and it’s also added to some soft drinks and ‘energy’ drinks.

It’s important not to have more than 300mg a day. This is because high levels of caffeine can result in babies having a low birth weight, or even in miscarriage.

Each of these contains roughly 300mg of caffeine:

3 mugs of instant coffee (100mg each mug)
4 cups of instant coffee (75mg each cup)
3 cups of brewed coffee (100mg each cup)
6 cups of tea (50mg each cup)
8 cans of cola (up to 40mg each can)
4 cans of ‘energy’ drink (up to 80mg each can)
6 (50g) bars of plain chocolate (up to 50 mg per bar)
Caffeine in milk chocolate is about half that of plain chocolate

(caffeine amounts  from www.eatwell.gov.uk)

Caffeine is also found in some cold and flu remedies. Check with  your GP or midwife before taking any.

Have a look at What to Eat When You’re Pregnant: Including the A-Z of What’s Safe and What’s Not for more advice.

Other related articles

Cheese and Pregnancy
Heath and beauty in pregnancy – what should I avoid?
Exercising, sports and other activities while pregnant – what should I avoid and why?