If you’re expecting, you’re probably hoping to hear a lot more “yes” in your life (*ahem* Creating life here! Worship me!). Unfortunately, there are quite a few “no”s that come with that positive pregnancy test result.
Not only does your body change while carrying your new addition (duh), but the way you live also needs to change to make sure that little peanut is safe.
Since navigating the seemingly endless list of do’s and don’ts can feel like fighting an uphill battle (while pregnant, no less), here’s a list of the big no-no’s to avoid when you have a bun in the oven.
Food
While your diet will probably stay much the same during your pregnancy, there are quite a few foods you should steer clear of.
When you’re pregnant, your immune system is actually weakened to allow the baby to grow inside your body, which makes you way more susceptible to foodborne illnesses than your non-pregnant self.
Here are the main foods to avoid:
Unpasteurized milks and cheeses:
Soft imported cheeses like brie, feta, Gorgonzola, Camembert, Roquefort, and Mexican-style cheeses (yes, the beloved queso blanco and queso fresco for taco Tuesday) are all no-gos unless they say they’re made with pasteurized milk.
Unpasteurized milks and cheeses put you at risk of Listeria, which is a nasty bacteria that can make pregnant women really sick.
Lunchmeat:
Your deli days are over — for the next 9 months, anyway. Like unpasteurized dairy, deli meat can carry Listeria. If you really can’t give up the cold cuts, try heating your deli meat in the microwave until it starts steaming. That will kill any Listeria hanging around.
Undercooked beef:
Mooing steaks are a thing of the past, and “well done” is your new reality. Rare and undercooked beef put you at risk of coliform bacteria, toxoplasmosis, and salmonella, all of which can lead to miscarriage-causing illnesses and complications.
Raw eggs:
Again with the dang Listeria. Eggs that aren’t fully cooked put you at risk (farewell, comrade cookie dough). Even your favorite sunny-side-up eggs can put you at risk.
Sushi and undercooked seafood:
Like undercooked beef, raw or undercooked seafood is a big nope because of bacteria and parasites. Undercooked fish and shellfish — including oysters, clams, and mussels — also put you at risk of illness that could hurt your baby.
Smoked seafood is also on the Do Not Eat list. Make sure to order your salmon well done.
Fish high in mercury or pollutants:
Cooked fish is OK during pregnancy, and fish high in omega-3s (like salmon) actually has a lot of benefits, but be picky about which types of fish you eat.
Fish from polluted waters can impact your health. Remember when the Gulf had that giant oil spill? Yeah, you wouldn’t have wanted your seafood dinner coming from that ocean in 2004, and you may still not today.
To be safe, stick to wild-caught, sustainably sourced fish without added colors or hormones.
You’ll also want to nix fish that can be high in mercury. Mercury can lead to brain damage and developmental delays, and when a pregnant woman consumes fish with mercury, she passes these effects on to her unborn baby.
Fish that contain mercury include:
- tuna
- swordfish
- shark
- king mackerel
- tilefish
Canned chunk light tuna is typically safe to eat in moderation because it has lower levels of mercury.
Unwashed fruits and veggies:
You’re going to hear a lot about toxoplasmosis, but let’s start here. If your feline friend Snowball is infected with toxoplasma and poops in your veggie garden, the soil is now contaminated.
If you go to get a fresh tomato and don’t thoroughly wash the dirt off before you eat it, you are also now infected. Pregnant women who are infected with toxoplasmosis can have severe complications, like fetal development issues or miscarriage.
Make sure you wash any fruits or veggies, especially from home gardens, thoroughly with mild soap and water or a veggie wash before eating them.
Drinks
You gotta wash that food down with something, right? So what drinks are off the menu?
Alcohol
You might have thought you’d be that cool European mom who could still drink a glass of red wine with a cute little bump, but no, actually there isn’t enough research to prove any amount of alcohol is safe during pregnancy.
Drinking alcohol gives your baby a straight shot of those boozy effects via the placenta, which can lead to fetal alcohol syndrome.
Tobacco:
Smoking during pregnancy can increase the risk of premature birth, low birth weight, stillbirth, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
Too much coffee (or caffeine in general):
Let’s get this out of the way: It’s a myth that you can’t drink coffee when you’re pregnant. You can have coffee! Go tell the old lady who’s mean-mugging you for that small latte to take a hike.
You will need to significantly cut back, though, if you’re a multiple-cups-a-day coffee drinker or a Diet Coke fanatic.
Too much caffeine can cause problems because caffeine can pass directly through the placenta to your unborn baby. Studies have even linked caffeine to miscarriage.
A 2015 study found that miscarriage risk increased by 19 percent with every caffeine increase of 150 milligrams a day and by 8 percent for every additional two cups of coffee per day.
The March of Dimes recommends you stick to 200 milligrams of caffeine a day, which translates to about a 12-ounce cup of coffee, depending on the brew strength. Make sure you also account for caffeinated soda and tea in your caffeine quota.
Energy drinks:
Do we really need to explain? Do you need Red Bull to give your baby wings? Energy drinks and pregnancy don’t mix.
A 16-ounce energy drink can contain 240 milligrams of caffeine, not to mention a bunch of other stimulants your growing fetus definitely does not need.
Certain activities
Be careful and check with your provider when choosing your activities. During pregnancy, don’t do:
Any activity that has a lot of jerky, bouncing movements that may cause you to fall, like horseback riding, downhill skiing, off-road cycling, gymnastics or skating.
Any sport in which you can get hit in the belly, like ice hockey, boxing, soccer or basketball.
Any exercise that makes you lie flat on your back (after the third month of pregnancy), like sit-ups. When you lie on your back, your uterus puts pressure on a vein that brings blood to your heart. Lying on your back can cause your blood pressure to drop and limit the flow of blood to your baby.
Activities that can cause you to hit water with great force, like water skiing, surfing or diving.
Skydiving or scuba diving. Scuba diving can lead to decompression sickness. This is when dangerous gas bubbles form in your baby’s body.
Exercising at high altitude (more than 6,000 feet), unless you live at a high altitude. Altitude is the height of something above the ground. For example, if you’re at high altitude, you’re probably in the mountains. Exercising at high altitudes during pregnancy can lower the amount of oxygen that reaches your baby.
Activities that may make your body temperature too high, like Bikram yoga (also called hot yoga) or exercising outside on hot, humid days.