ate deli meat and now am worried!!

[1pj]

ok so im a bit worried.Im 29 weeks pregnant and today was absolutely craving some berliner(bad i know but i eat healthy most times)so i went to the deli and bought some pre packed berliner and ate some in a roll,well i always vowed id never be one of those overally cautious pregnant woman but now a few people have told me you should never ever eat deli meat while pregnant and now im worried!I cant remember eating ham when pregnant with DD maybe just in a toasted sandwhich,what are the odds somethign will go wrong?does anyone know the actual truth?i thought if it was that bad the hospital or doctors would tell us?

[RhiChiChi]

I don't know much about the pre-packaged stuff, but I would assume that it is cut then sealed straight away to maintain freshness. Given you are 29 weeks, bubs should be developed (someone correct me if I am wrong). Not much you can do about it now, but keep any eye on how you feel - I would drink lots of water b/c processed meat has alot of salt. If you start to feel unwell, go to the Dr or hospital straight away

[PumpkinZulu]

The actual truth is that the risk is very, very low I would not worry. Food safety in general is of corse always important, pregnant or not, but I am sure you will be a-okay.

[Miss.B]

Don't stress too much hun. I was really careful when I was pg too, but ate some things later on in my pg that I souldn't have but all was OK in the end. What you did was you've increased your risk somewhat but the likelihood of it leading to something bad, is pretty small. Try not to think about it as you'll go mad

[~me~]

I ate pretty much anything and everything while pregnant. It really is up to you. If fresh from the Deli, I would think pretty safe.
I ate Macca's Sundaes which I didn't realise are apparently a big No No and I also ate Black Pudding.. I have 3 healthy babies.
I used a rule..if the place looks dodgy, stay away otherwise I would go for it

Trust your judgement and your cravings

[Miss.B]

Ooh, I forgot to say that my OB said to me that generally pre packaged food is OK. It's the ones that are exposed that you should worry about

[[M]umma[M]ia]

Just had to google what that meat was!! lol.

You will be fine hunny

[Junglemum]

Yes the risk is very, very low. But there has been listeria found in the past in pre packaged deli meats in the past.

Listeria doesn't only effect you in the first trimester, if you get it there is a huge risk (from memory about a 50% chance) of miscarriage or still birth whatever stage of pregnancy.

At the first app with my ob, he gives you a talk about listeria and the hospital also mail a pamphlet to everyone.

I'm not meaning to freak you out, just putting the facts out there.

Having said all of that, I have had foods I shouldn't. Sushi, food court food. Yes the risk of getting listeria is very very low, it's just bad if you happen to get it. I knew the risk and decided to eat what I did anyway.

If it was me, I'd be presuming it was fine but probably wouldn't eat it again. (unless you cook it)

[peanutter]

My general understanding about the "no no" factor of deli foods is that you don't know how long it's been sitting there for.

So if it's proper pre-packages (ie: vacuum sealed or whatever, with a use-by date on it) then it sounds like it's pretty low risk.

FWIW when my friend was in hospital while pg, she was served hand and cheese sandwiches for lunch in the maternity ward, with other pg people! So assumedly lunch meats in and of themselves aren't problematic

Try not to stress about it.

[Fleur]

The risk is with the Listeria bacteria. It's found in quite a lot of foods.

From Victorian Government Health Information

High risk foods
These foods should be avoided:

•Ready-to-eat seafood such as smoked fish and smoked mussels, oysters or raw seafood such as sashimi or sushi.
•Pre-prepared or stored salads, including coleslaw and fresh fruit salad
•Drinks made from fresh fruit and/or vegetables where washing procedures are unknown (excluding pasteurised or canned juices).
•Pre-cooked meat products which are eaten without further cooking or heating, such as patÉ, sliced deli meat, including ham, strass and salami, and cooked diced chicken (as used in sandwich shops).
•Any unpasteurised milk or foods made from unpasteurised milk.
•Soft serve ice-creams.
•Soft cheeses, such as brie, camembert, ricotta and feta (these are safe if cooked and served hot).
•Ready-to-eat foods, including leftover meats, which have been refrigerated for more than one day.
•Dips and salad dressings in which vegetables may have been dipped.
•Raw vegetable garnishes.

Safe foods
These include:

•Freshly prepared foods.
•Freshly cooked foods, to be eaten immediately.
•Hard cheeses, cheese spreads, processed cheese.
•Milk - freshly pasteurised and UHT.
•Yoghurt.
•Canned and pickled food.

The risk is low, but it does exist. Having said that .... I ate so much of that stuff before I was aware of the risks. I think you will find many women break occasionally.
The odds are on your side & I am sure you'll be fine

[njon2]

Even after I was told not to eat deli meat at my first appointment, I haven't been able to give it up. I probably eat it once to twice a week and am now just over 38 weeks and there is nothing wrong with me or bub.

They have to provide you with the warning to cover themselves.

[buliej]

I wouldn't be so dismissive of the risks - yes they are low, but they do exist and pregnant women do contract listeria and do lose babies...if you are one of those women, the extremely low odds would be of zero comfort. I'm not saying this to worry anyone, but to say that just because something is low odds doesn't mean you should poo-poo the real risk of losing a baby. My OB was the head high risk OB at Frances Perry/Royal Women's and treated listeria as something to be concerned about - over my pregnancy he had 3 pregnant women in the hospital who had listeria...I don't know what happened, but I wouldn't want to be in their shoes....that being said, it's not always a doomsday scenario either. I do believe there is at least 1 bellybeller who also lost a baby from listeria who used to comment on threads where people talked about it's OK because it's low risk. The doctors are not covering their bottoms but telling you the facts about risks - low risk/serious consequences, I'd stay away!

1pj - odds are, you are fine - but I'd really avoid deli meat going forward - and I'm not on a high horse - I made mistakes during my pregnancy with what I ate, but they were true mistakes and only after the food was consumed did I realize that it was a no-no - I really tried to follow the rules and did not chose to eat something "bad" because the risk was LOW.

[cjane]

In the case of deli meats, listeria can be a concern when the meat has been sitting out in a temperature that will allow the bacteria to develop.

I think that a common sense approach is best.

If you ate deli meat that had been sitting out in the wrong temperature, then that is when there is a risk, and yes as people have said the risk is low, but it is there.
I think there are probably a number of items found in most people's fridges that could have actually have a higher risk of listeria - such as leftovers etc!

[1pj]

thanks ladies,i wont be eating it again,just not worth the risk,just hope its not too late,so hard because you hear so many things and you dont want to be paranoid but at the same time you dont want to put your baby at risk,too late now though just have to hope its ok.thanks for replies!