- Cook meat thoroughly and wash all fruit and vegetables before eating, to avoid infection with toxoplasmosis, an organism that can affect your baby.
- If you must change the cat litter tray or do any gardening, wear gloves as toxoplasmosis is also found in cat faeces. Keep cats away from food preparation areas.
- Avoid mould-ripened soft cheeses such as brie or camembert, blue-veined cheeses such as stilton. All are associated with listeria, which can lead to premature birth and miscarriage. You should also avoid mould-ripened goats' and sheep's milk cheeses, such as chèvre, although hard cheese made from these, for example halloumi and feta, should be safe
- Avoid pâté, for the same reason.
- Make sure all ready-made foods are piping hot throughout before eating, as they are also a listeria risk.
- Drink only pasteurised or UHT milk, which has had harmful germs destroyed.
- Only eat eggs if they're hard-boiled or scrambled, to avoid salmonella infection.
- Don't eat liver and liver products while pregnant, as they contain high levels of vitamin A, which can be harmful to your baby.
- Avoid peanuts and peanut products when pregnant or breastfeeding if you, the baby’s father, or the baby’s brother or sister, have a history of allergic diseases or conditions such as eczema, asthma and hayfever.
Source : BBB.co.uk
