Pregnancy Info HOME

I don't know about the listeria,but i do know that we are not sapposed to eat deli meat due to the high sodium levels.

I craved and ate a Deli turkey sub sandwich everyday of the last rimester of pregnancy. My daughter was 8 lbs. 13 oz and perfectly healthy.

I was chowing down the deli meats... (shame on me) It was just fast to make a sandwich with them, and tons of veggies. Then I finally decide to read my pregnancy book that my doctor gave me... No deli meats? no hot dogs? *sob* The only way you can eat deli meats... (not hot dogs) is if you re-heat them, until they are steaming hot... (according to the book)

Bacteria and parasites that can contaminate foods are a major health threat. To unborn babies. Listeria can cause defects and misscarage. When shopping avoid any foods that have not been well refrigerated or keeped on ice, steer clear of jars that are leakey or don't pop up when you open them, cans that are rusty or dented. Never eat raw or undercooked meats, runny eggs, stick to pasteurised milk products. HOT DOG AND COLD CUT MEATS can also be contaminated with listeria as they often sit around at warm temps and are handled often so best to AVOID. Dont worry too much about the meal that you have just had, unless you have developed bad symptoms of stomach illness within a few hours of eatting

Sorry forgot to say... Heat does not always destroy all types of bacteria.

Honestly? My OBGYN told me your chances of getting listeria from a deli sandwaich (only about 2,500 people are infected each year) are so slim that the only reason people are freaking out is because of a few lawsuits where things went wrong. Could you be infected? Sure. You could also get hit by lightening today. Use common sense. Don't live off of it and you'll be fine.

deli meat high in salt but more so is the rosemary for it raises your blood preasure and works on your liver. They advise not to use this when you are prego

Is it all deli meat? What about baked honey ham? I really crave that! What damage would I do?

Don't believe everything your doctor tells you. Confirm it yourself if you can. The CDC's website says that 2500 people get listeriosis a year. Of those people, 500 die. Pregnant women are 20 times more likely to get listeria, but the babies are the ones that usually die (unborn and soon after birth). I don't want to freak anyone out. People need to make their own decisions, but I didn't want misinformation to spread and cause more problems than needed.

I need more data than what the CDC provides. 2500 people out of how many hundreds of millions of people? How many were pregnant? How many had prenatal care?

Its good that you're asking questions but, actually, all the information should be there. The website says, "In the United States, an estimated 2,500 persons become seriously ill with listeriosis each year. Of these, 500 die." "In the US", that makes it about 1 in 100,000 people become "seriously ill" that means more get it but don't get seriously ill. From the highlighted link "pregnant woman" article, of those 2500 people about 1 in 5 are pregnant women. So OK that may sound like a low rate, but only 120 out of 100,000 women get b___st cancer. Sounds like a small amount but it is highly recommended that all women get their mamogram every year. It is a good idea. Why? The result could be death. Same with listeriosis, a seemingly small occurance rate (statistically speaking it is not), but you and your unborn baby could die or have serious illness. For the baby that means possible " premature delivery, miscarriage, stillbirth, or serious health problems". So that is why it is recommended in most books and by many doctors, and confirmed by national studies and a___lisys of national statistics. This has nothing to do with prenatal care unless this recommendation is standard of care for your OBGYN. It wasn't for ours, we read about it. It isn't for the lady's doctor who posted above, actually the opposite was. So prenatal care has nothing to do with wether you get it or not. It has to do with your decision to eat cold cuts, unpasteurized cheeses, etc. or not to. Why are pregnant women more suseptable? Good question? Most people that get listeriosis have a weekened imune system, for example people undergoing chemo or have AIDS or diabetes etc. During preganancy your hormones effect your imune system in a way that causes you to be more suseptable to listeria. Another important tid bit is that sometimes mom doesn't feel anything or maybe they just have flu-like symptoms, but the baby is affected. This again is why my wife and I stand by this recommendation. The CDC is a reputable place to get your information from. They review all medical journals, they receive all data concerning reportable disease (of which listeriosis is one) from local and state health departments, they are the ones most MD's turn to for answers and standard of care recommendations and they only hire the cream of the crop to work for them. When they get listeriosis info from your local or state health dept. they get only culture confirmed cases, not just someone who's doctor thinks but isn't sure about it. They recieve info regarding who the person is (age, race, etc) are they preganant, has the baby been affected, etc. Your local health dept. get this info from labs, doctors or nurses that report the disease and possibly the patient as well. I know this because my wife has worked for city and county health departments for many years and is an epidemioligist and was the lead epi and program director for the acute communicable disease depart in a major US city for many years. Sorry for rambling, whether or not it was a serious disease or how frequently it occured was not my original intent. It was to say, question things and research things you are concerned about and don't just take your doc's word for it all the time. IMO, the doctor referenced a few posts up was not being responsible by saying it was OK to eat could cuts. In my wife's opinion tha was not an informed recommendation. Not because it is highly likely that you'll get it, but because while you're prego you are 20% more likely to get it and if you do get it you and your baby could have serious health issues and possibly die. So you make the call.

I guess the paragraphs don't translate. Sorry