Andover Mums!

Foods to Eat

• Plenty of fruit and vegetables -
  fresh, frozen, tinned, dried or a glass of juice. Aim for at least five portions of a variety each day
• Lots of starchy foods - such as bread, pasta, rice and potatoes, try to choose wholegrain options
• Foods rich in protein - such as lean meat and chicken, fish, eggs and pulses (such as beans and lentils).
• Lots of fibre - This helps prevent constipation and is found in wholegrain bread, pasta, rice, pulses and fruit and vegetables
• Dairy foods - such as milk, cheese and yoghurt, which contain calcium
  

Foods to Avoid

• Some types of cheese - Avoid cheeses such as Camembert, Brie or chevre or others that have a similar rind. You should also avoid blue cheeses. These cheeses are made with mould and they can contain listeria, a type of bacteria that could harm your unborn baby.
• Pate - Avoid all types of pate, including vegetable. This is because pate can contain listeria.
• Raw or partially cooked eggs - Avoid eating raw eggs and food containing raw or partially-cooked eggs. Only eat eggs cooked enough for both the white and yolk to be solid. This is to avoid the risk of salmonella, which causes a type of food poisoning.
• 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.
• Liver products and supplements containing vitamin A - Make sure you don't have too much vitamin A. This means you should avoid eating liver and liver products such as pate and avoid taking supplements containing vitamin A or fish liver oils (which contain high levels of vitamin A). You need some vitamin A, but having too much means that levels could build up and may harm your unborn baby. Ask your GP or midwife if you want more information.
• Avoid eating any shark, swordfish and marlin - Limit the amount of tuna you eat to no more than two tuna steaks a week (weighing about 140g cooked or 170g raw) or four medium-size cans of tuna a week (with a drained weight of about 140g per can). This is because of the levels of mercury in these fish. At high levels, mercury can harm a baby's developing nervous system.
• Have no 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.
• Raw shellfish - Avoid raw shellfish when you're pregnant. This is because raw shellfish can sometimes contain harmful bacteria and viruses that could cause food poisoning. And food poisoning can be particularly unpleasant when you're pregnant.
• Alcohol - 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.
• Caffeine - You should limit the amount of caffeine you have each day, but you don't need to cut it out completely. 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 miscarriage.
• Peanuts - Serious allergies to nuts and nut products and some seeds affect about 1 to 2% of people in the UK. Your baby may be at higher risk of developing a nut allergy if you, the baby's father, brothers or sisters have certain allergic conditions such as hayfever, asthma and/or eczema. If your baby is in this higher-risk group, you may wish to avoid eating peanuts and peanut products when you're pregnant and breastfeeding.