Food and Drink to Avoid During Pregnancy

When you get pregnant, you will quickly realize that there is a long list of things that should not work.

It is better to adopt a "better safe than sorry" approach to the guidelines, but if you find that you have done or eaten anything below - for example, eating soft cheese - There is probably no need to worry about. It is unlikely that he had done any harm to the child as most risks are very small.

food to avoid during pregnancy

The following foods may contain high levels of Listeria, which can cause flu-like illness called literalism, and is linked to miscarriage and still birth. It is rare in Britain and America.

* Soft or blue mold cheeses (Brie, Camembert, Stilton). Processed and hard cheese pose no danger.

* Pate. This includes vegetable pate.

* Prepared salads such as coleslaw.

food poisoning, in severe cases, can lead to miscarriage or premature birth. Therefore you should avoid:

* Raw or undercooked meat and poultry.

* unpasteurized milk

* Raw eggs or products containing raw eggs (like mayonnaise)

* Raw shellfish

excessively high levels of vitamin associated with birth defects. Foods that are high in vitamin A, which is recommended to be avoided are:

* Liver and liver products such as pâté.

Fish is very good for you, and can still be part of a balanced diet when you are pregnant. But you should not eat more than two portions of oily fish a week. Oily fish include:

* Mackerel

* Sardine

* Trout

* fresh tuna - canned tuna does not count as oily fish, but you should limit your intake of canned tuna to no more than 4 140 g cans a week (the equivalent of about 3 tuna salads ).

Mercury can damage the developing baby's nervous system if consumed in high levels. Do not eat:

* Marlin

* swordfish

Sharks

Beverages to avoid

* Alcohol - drinking during pregnancy can cause fetal alcohol syndrome. It is recommended by the Ministry of Health in the UK that pregnant women consume more than one or two units of alcohol in one sitting, and should not drink alcohol more than twice a week. Ideally, pregnant women should abstain in total to ensure that no harmful effects on their babies.

* Caffeine - High levels of caffeine in early pregnancy is associated with abortion. High caffeine consumption can deplete the mother's iron levels, which can prevent the development of the child and mother are very lethargic. Try not to have more than 200 mg a day.

The best thing to do during pregnancy to you and your baby healthy is to use common sense. Government guidelines and scientific studies continually changing and challenging your current advice on what is safe during pregnancy. So trust your instincts and you are likely to go wrong.