What to avoid in pregnancy

Its important to know which foods are safe to eat and which you need to avoid while pregnant. Eat a safe pregnancy diet, and learn about safe food storage and handling by following these tips:

Fish to limit

When you’re pregnant, don't eat too much of some types of fish.

Oily fish is good for your health. However, you should limit how much you eat because it contains pollutants, such as dioxins and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).

Pregnant women should eat no more than two portions of oily fish a week. Examples of oily fish include:

• fresh tuna (not canned tuna, which doesn't count as oily fish),
• mackerel,
• sardines, and
• trout.

Tuna also contains a high level of mercury (see below). Don't eat more than two fresh tuna steaks or four medium-sized cans (about 140g per can) of tuna a week. This is about six rounds of tuna sandwiches or three tuna salads.

• Raw meat such as sushi, seafood, rare or uncooked beef, or poultry because of the risk of contamination with coliform bacteria, toxoplasmosis, and salmonella.
• Raw eggs, or foods containing raw egg such as Caesar dressing, mayonnaise, homemade ice cream or custard, unpasteurized eggnog, or Hollandaise sauce because raw eggs may be contaminated with salmonella.

Alcohol

The Department of Health advises that pregnant women, and women who are trying to conceive, should not drink alcohol and should not get drunk. Heavy drinking during pregnancy is associated with low birth weight and more serious problems such as foetal alcohol syndrome.

However, if you do decide to drink alcohol while you're pregnant, limit the amount that you drink. The Department of Health and Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists advise that pregnant women should not drink more than one to two units of alcohol once or twice a week. Binge drinking (drinking several units of alcohol in one session) should be avoided.

Caffeine

Limit the amount of caffeine you drink each day. Caffeine affects the way your body absorbs iron, which is very important for your baby's development. High levels of caffeine can result in a baby having a low birth weight or even miscarriage.

Caffeine occurs naturally in a range of foods, such as coffee, tea and chocolate. It's also added to some soft drinks and energy drinks.