What Not to Eat While Pregnant In the Parks

[jlwhitney]

I looked up Listeria for deli meat and hot dogs/sausages...basically I could not find any recent cases of listeria in the US caused by deli meat. It was almost always fruits and veggies (even organic!). I would avoid deli meat and hot dogs/bacon/sausages in large quantities because of the preservatives, personally, more than the listeria

Lettuce is a huge culprit, especially pre bagged and from restaurants. There are far greater isks then some deli meat.

 

[Skiton]

Lettuce is a huge culprit, especially pre bagged and from restaurants. There are far greater isks then some deli meat.

Yes, but I feel that this is missing the point. Lettuce may be a bigger risk than deli meat. Does that mean that all pregnant women should consider eating deli meat an acceptable risk? I'm not on a high horse here. I ate deli turkey and got my hair colored and even had a half glass of wine on occasion when I was pregnant and everything was fine. I weighed the risks and felt they were acceptable. But some women don't. I don't think we should pooh-pooh women who say, "Hey, maybe it's a small risk, but I can NOT do that stuff at all and turn a small risk into a zero risk." Some of the posts here seem like they're making fun of those women for being alarmist and hysterical, but really, they're not. They're making sure that even the smallest risk factor doesn't affect them. Listeriosis, for example, only causes about 120 miscarriages a year in this country, but you know...someone has to be one of those 120. I'm not going roll my eyes at someone who makes a conscious decision that it won't be her.

 

[offwithyourhead]

Talk to your doctor, but honestly there are a million worse things you could do for your baby than eat a corn dog.

Eat it, don't worry about it. From a website: "If you are pregnant and you are considering eating deli meats, make certain that you reheat the meat until it is steaming". If you eat a hot dog, they will definitely be 'steaming' hot. You can always ask for the hottest one they have and just let them know it's because you're pregnant and you want to minimize your chances for any issues. If it's a corn dog, it's been dipped in 350+ degree oil. It'll be hot enough.

You're not going to get listeria from Disneyland. They are extra careful with their food handling because what kind of press would it be if there was a listeria outbreak at the happiest place on earth?

Get the virgin versions of your drinks and avoid raw fish and I think you'll be A-OK.

 

[ChloroformSdxn]

I ate sashimi the whole time I was pregnant. I'm on the west coast, and in my province, there has never been an incident of sushi-borne listeria. It's more important to limit fish with high mercury levels (like tuna and shark.) Avoiding raw fish is no longer an official recommendation. A bigger issue are things like salad bars, and a few doctors have now started telling patients to avoid organic while pregnant since the rate of contamination is so much higher than with conventional produce.

As far as Disneyland-specific food choices, other than alcohol, I can't think of anything. Hamburgers should be fully cooked. Maybe avoid buffet-style restaurants if only because with other patrons you're relying on them not touching your food. Even then, the absolute risk is quite low. The food and water supply in North America is incredibly safe on the whole.

You're not due for a pertussis vaccination until your third trimester. My biggest precaution would be checking your titres to make sure you still have immunity to measles and rubella, if you didn't pre-pregnancy, because you have so many visitors from all over the world at Disneyland, and that area of California has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.

 

[ClaraOswald]

The bacteria associated with raw milk and deli meats is listeria. It's no joke, really, it can cause serious problems for a fetus. Unpasteurized dairy products can have listeria, salmonella, and/or E. coli in it. For most healthy adults, it's fine, you can consume small quantities of the bacteria and never get sick, but pregnant women are all slightly immunocompromised.

THANK YOU! People drive me nuts when they act like listeria is no big deal for a pregnant lady. Maybe the risks of contaminated food are low...but is it even worth that risk? I mean, it can cause MISCARRIAGE. I know when I was pregnant, if something horrible like that happened just because I "needed" a cold lunchmeat sandwich...I would have felt pretty guilty my entire life, to sat the least.

Pretty safe than sorry when it comes to an unborn baby. For me, at least. I avoided uncooked and undercooked meat. Unpasteurized products. I also tried to avoid pre-cut/pre-washed fruits and vegetables. The more people that handle something, the more likely it could end up with something nasty.

 

[ClaraOswald]

I ate sashimi the whole time I was pregnant. I'm on the west coast, and in my province, there has never been an incident of sushi-borne listeria. It's more important to limit fish with high mercury levels (like tuna and shark.) Avoiding raw fish is no longer an official recommendation. A bigger issue are things like salad bars, and a few doctors have now started telling patients to avoid organic while pregnant since the rate of contamination is so much higher than with conventional produce.

As far as Disneyland-specific food choices, other than alcohol, I can't think of anything. Hamburgers should be fully cooked. Maybe avoid buffet-style restaurants if only because with other patrons you're relying on them not touching your food. Even then, the absolute risk is quite low. The food and water supply in North America is incredibly safe on the whole.

You're not due for a pertussis vaccination until your third trimester. My biggest precaution would be checking your titres to make sure you still have immunity to measles and rubella, if you didn't pre-pregnancy, because you have so many visitors from all over the world at Disneyland, and that area of California has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.

Pregnant women should not get the MMR vaccine so there's no sense in the OP getting checked for that now. But for anyone thinking of becoming pregnant...definitely good to check this. There was a pretty big measles outbreak right before our trip to Disneyland last year.

 

[bdub]

Pregnant women should not get the MMR vaccine so there's no sense in the OP getting checked for that now. But for anyone thinking of becoming pregnant...definitely good to check this. There was a pretty big measles outbreak right before our trip to Disneyland last year.

If she were planning on visiting during her pregnancy, she should get MMR titres done. The point isn't to see if she needs to be vaxed, it's to make certain that she's protected for travel to an area where outbreaks have occurred.

 

[DharmaLou]

Moms are judged so much from pregnancy through teen years. What works for you is great, but that may not be great for someone else. Do what YOU feel is best for YOU. People will be giving you advice from now until your child is out of school and judging you on what you eat, drink, feed, and put on your child. Do what YOU feel is best. (though keep them rear facing at least until 2 )

 

[ChloroformSdxn]

If she were planning on visiting during her pregnancy, she should get MMR titres done. The point isn't to see if she needs to be vaxed, it's to make certain that she's protected for travel to an area where outbreaks have occurred.

Correct. MMR/MMRV isn't something you would get done during pregnancy. My point was as you stated - I would be more concerned that I had protection if I were travelling while pregnant to an area with low vaccination rates.

 

[bdub]

Correct. MMR/MMRV isn't something you would get done during pregnancy. My point was as you stated - I would be more concerned that I had protection if I were travelling while pregnant to an area with low vaccination rates.

Most definitely.

For what it's worth, titres for MMR are pretty common when women have their blood work done during their first OB visit so that's worth checking into as well.

 

[ClaraOswald]

Now that you mention it, I think it was a part of the standard bloodwork at my doctor's office at one of my first appointments. I don't think they checked for immunity to measles but they did check for rubella.