That's why you should avoid some foods during pregnancy!
When eating during pregnancy and preparing meals, you should follow a few rules to ensure that you and your child are always well.
The reason is that some foods can be contaminated with pathogenic germs that can endanger your baby's stomach.
Listeria bacteria and toxoplasmosis parasites
These are real culprits that can cause serious damage to the health of an unborn child. Food-borne infections in pregnant women such as listeriosis and toxoplasmosis, for example, increase the risk of the baby being born prematurely or not alive. The bacteria and parasites can also lead to listeriosis, meningitis and septicaemia (blood poisoning) in newborns. Almost a third of affected children do not survive such illnesses. So there is a good reason why pregnant women are advised not to eat food contaminated with toxoplasma or listeria.
These pathogens are transmitted in particular when an expectant mother eats raw or unprocessed animal foods. So always cook everything thoroughly before eating if you are pregnant! Even healthy "greens" can be a source of infection if salad, fruit and vegetables are left unwashed. So always rinse these delicious sources of vitamins well - and as hot as possible. (Temperatures of at least 70 degrees kill the listeria bacteria).
And another thing: toxoplasmosis pathogens can also be found in cat faeces. So if you have a kitten in the household, I recommend that you don't clean the litter tray yourself during pregnancy, but get someone else to do it for you. If this is not possible, make sure you use disposable gloves and a face mask when cleaning. As the problem is particularly prevalent with old cat faeces, you should only do gardening work with gloves. After all, cats like to use the garden as a welcome open-air toilet.
As a preventative measure, it is also important that you pay attention to careful kitchen hygiene. This means: wash your hands thoroughly before preparing food, but also after handling raw meat, for example. Used utensils such as knives, chopping boards, plates etc. must also be cleaned carefully.
For healthy women who are not pregnant, however, an infection (listeriosis) is usually unproblematic. It is often not even noticed because it does not cause any symptoms. In other cases, only a few flu-like symptoms develop.
Hands off these foods
You are pregnant and that means that contaminated food can jeopardise the little treasure in your belly! That's why you should avoid the following foods until after the birth do without:
Raw meat/raw sausage: This of course includes raw minced meat/tatar, ham or carpaccio. However, you may be surprised to learn that Teewurst, Krakauer and salami are also raw sausage products. This means that the processed meat has not been heated through. Therefore, these foods are also not recommended for you during pregnancy.
Raw fish or seafood: Pregnant sushi fans should definitely deny themselves this pleasure, even if it is difficult. Smoked fish, salted herring and oysters should also be removed from your diet. This avoidance will definitely benefit your child's health!
Raw milk products: You should also avoid this. And not just non-pasteurised milk, but also raw milk cheeses. This includes Camenbert, mountain cheese and Harzer Roller, for example.
If you want to know whether the cheese you choose from the counter is a raw milk product, you can rely on the ingredients label. In Germany, it must be declared if the food contains raw milk. All types of cheese and other products made from non-pasteurised milk are therefore labelled accordingly. You can therefore easily identify them.
By the way: Listeriosis bacteria can also colonise the rind of soft and mouldy cheese. So make it a habit now to cut off the rind generously.
Caution is also advised when eating raw mozzarella. Although it is made from pasteurised milk, it can still be infested with other bacteria because it has only been heated to 65 degrees during processing.
Raw eggs: Fortunately, few pregnant women get the idea of slurping up raw eggs. You'd better not. More problematic, because they are invisible, are raw eggs that are hidden in prepared dishes: for example in mayonnaise or in certain treats such as mouse au chocolat or the classic tiramisu. Pregnant women should also say NO to this indulgence.
Honey sweet you can allow yourself when eating during pregnancy
Although honey is also a raw animal food, you can safely enjoy it in any form during pregnancy and while breastfeeding.
However, honey is taboo for babies who are less than one year old. The reason: the sticky sweet could contain the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. This produces a toxin that can make your child seriously ill. Honey is therefore taboo for your baby in the first year of life - and not just because of the sugar.
What you can do if you are afraid of food-borne infections
If you already had a toxoplasmosis infection some time before pregnancy, there is no longer any risk to your baby during pregnancy. Only the initial infection is dangerous. You can find out whether you already have existing immune protection or whether you may have been newly infected by having your blood tested. Talk to your midwife or gynaecologist about this concern. A blood test can then provide certainty for you and your baby.
The situation is different with listeriosis infections. Even if you have previously survived an infection with listeriosis, a new infection during pregnancy can endanger your baby. You can only protect your baby by protecting yourself from infection during pregnancy.
The infection can be detected by a blood test, but also by swabs. If you are worried that you may be infected, speak to your midwife or gynaecologist. They can arrange the correct laboratory diagnostics.
Take a look Here are the latest workshops on pregnancy, birth and babies by emergency service midwife Katharina. Registration is free of charge.
