Listeria and Pregnancy

[ljmarsden]

Hi ashdowney,

Please try not to worry and remember that it is very rare to get listeria plus the fact that you cooked it for that amount of time makes the risk even less likely.

If you are still worried, you could see your doctor and ask to have a blood test. If you got listeria you would experience flu-like symptoms.

I know it's easy to say and harder to do, but try not to worry. Keeping stress levels to a minimum is also important in pregnancy and from what you describe I wouldn't be concerned.

Best wishes to you in your pregnancy,

LJ

[5Homebirths4Kate]

Hi Ashdowney,

I wouldn't be concerned about it at all. Most canned products are good WAY beyond the expiration date, and companies know that their canned products may be consumed after the due date, so they put an "earlier than is true" expiration date on them (i.e. if they think it will be good for 4 years on the shelf, they may put an expiration date of 3 years on it.). On top of that, you boiled it and broiled it, and I can't imagine anything surviving after that.

I'm with LJ - best not to worry, and I'm sure there wasn't anything to be concerned with. Anytime you start to experience vomiting or diarrhea during pregnancy, and you know it's not the typical morning sickness or due to the flu, then call your doctor, but in this instance, I'd be super surprised if anything comes of this. Stores donate their expired canned goods to homeless shelters all the time, and they feed it to the homeless with no problems. You said the can had no dents and it wasn't bulging, so it was likely just fine.

Warm regards,

Kate

[DBTJ]

Hi all,

I'm 7 weeks pregnant and have been so concerned eating ham and everything else on the list, that today when I ate a ham sandwich I now feel so frustrated with myself.

I have had pretty bad morning sickness over the last 2 weeks, so when I think I can keep something down, I'll try eat. Unfortunately today all I could stomach was a ham and salad sandwich. I did toast it, but probably not for long enough... I have a doctors appointment tomorrow to make sure everything is ok, but that is still nearly 24 hours away.

Is this whole listeria thing more paranoia than necesary for pregnant woman? I am struggling so much with the changes to my body and not being able to eat my normal food that I am worried all this stress is doing more harm than good.

I have had flu like symptoms for several weeks now (the flu is going around) so I do not know if I would be able to notice anything different. I have also been having mild cramping since week 4 (no bleeding). Is there cause for concern having eaten a toasted ham sandwich?

[5Homebirths4Kate]

Hi DBTJ,

Ham sandwiches are just fine during pregnancy, and you shouldn't be concerned if the ham was cooked.

Eat what you can and don't worry about listeria. It is very rare.

Please post back and let us know how your appointment goes, but my thought is that you likely don't need to see the doctor if you've just got morning sickness or a touch of the flu, as long as you're able to keep some things down and you're staying well hydrated.

I didn't have my first appointment with my midwives until I was 10-12 weeks along, for all 5 of my babies, and I never thought twice about eating ham.

Hope this helps to put your mind at ease.

Warm regards,

Kate

[srstevens]

I have a question. I am 37 weeks pregnant. I had a yogurt on Monday that I believe gave me food poisoning. Within 2 hours of eating the yogurt, I had very watery diarrhea. Since then (it's now Friday) I have had a sore throat, runny nose, headache, and a slightly stiff neck. I am very concerned about listeria. I spoke to my OBGYN, but they did not give much credence to what I was saying. I have not had a fever at all. I have been checking my temperature regularly. Should I push for a blood test? The yogurt I consumed was not expired but I am concerned that it was not kept cold enough at the market and that is what caused it to spoil. I am very concerned. Please respond!

[5Homebirths4Kate]

Hello srstevens,

Congratulations on your pregnancy. I'm sure you're getting eager to meet your little one. You're definitely in the home stretch now!

Listeria can be found in soil, water and animal droppings and typically infection occurs when someone eats infected meat, unpasteurized milk or certain processed foods like soft cheeses (cream cheese), hot dogs and deli meats which have been contaminated after processing.

I'd have to say that Listeria is rare because our family drinks raw milk regularly and I eat raw beef daily, and we have never been infected.

My guess is that the yogurt you ate had been made from pasteurized milk so if you reacted to it, it was likely food poisoning from e-coli bacteria which is the most common form of food poisoning.

But from what you are sharing, it sounds more like you may be fighting some kind of virus, like a cold or the flu.

Sore throat, runny nose, headache and slightly stiff neck are all flu symptoms. The fact that you have not had a fever at all is another indication that you may just be fighting a cold or the flu. Anytime you are fighting a virus or bacteria your body will elevate it's temperature either slightly or much higher in order to fight off the flu.

Right now you have a lot of progesterone in your system which is keeping you from going into labour, and progesterone naturally raises body temperature. If you weren't pregnant you might notice a slight increase in temp but being that you're pregnant, your body is probably already running a little on the warm side. I've had low grade temps that I knew were truly a low grade temp when I wasn't pregnant, yet that same temp was perfectly normal for me during my last few weeks of pregnancy. I also found that if I was able to boost that temp by wrapping up in a warm blanket for awhile, that my body would fight off the infection faster.

I know it can be a bit unnerving when you're pregnant and not sure exactly what is causing symptoms of illness. If you feel that a blood test would put your mind at ease you could certainly ask for one. The fact that you already contacted your doctor's office and they didn't seem concerned is an indication that your body will probably fight this off on it's own and that it's nothing to be concerned about - that coupled with the fact that you didn't really eat anything that would cause suspicion (if you had a raw egg and the egg touched the shell, and the shell was contaminated with the chicken's droppings, this could introduce the listeria bacteria into your body). But again, this would be very rare, and likely you would know of a recall for any foods that had been contaminated.

I would encourage you to call your doctor again if you continue to be concerned, and in the mean time, boost your immune system by resting, drinking plenty of purified water to move the pathogen out of your body, avoid all sugar and white flour products, and add in plenty of fruits and vegetables. Make yourself a green smoothie to drink. This will help you get more dark green leafy vegetables into your diet to help you heal faster.

You can also get some colostrum and probiotics (acidophilus/bifidus, etc.) form the health store and take this. The probiotics will help with digestion and boosts the "good bacteria" while the colostrum has super immunity properties in it and can help to boost your immune system so you overcome this as quickly as possible. But do remember that no matter what you do, if you don't get enough good quality sleep or if you're stressed, that will trump all the other "good" you're doing so be sure to make rest a high priority right now.

You can also start to drink some Red Raspberry Leaf tea each day to help your uterus prepare for labour and delivery. I drank this tea with my last two pregnancies and those births were the fastest and easiest of all of them.

I would also encourage you to see a Chiropractor who can help your hips and back to be in alignment so that baby's position will be optimal during labour. The better positioned baby is, the easier and faster birth can be.

If you need ideas to help you sleep better, or if you would like to see how a green smoothie is made, post back and I'll be happy to share more helpful tips.

Warm Regards,

Kate

[srstevens]

thank you Kate. I actually have been having 2 cups of red raspberry leaf tea per day for the past week. I guess my concern has been because listeria causes flu like symptoms in pregnant women and that is what I have been exhibiting. I think that I will request a blood test, but I am not too optimistic about my doctor agreeing. I also read that listeria can occur with spoiled food and I do believe that the yogurt was spoiled as I did have GI symptoms 2 hours after eating it.

What do you think about evening primrose oil and using it to aid in cervical dilation?

[5Homebirths4Kate]

Hi srstevens,

I used evening primrose oil with great success during the end of my pregnancies. But what I found most helpful in aiding dilation was making love. If my body was ready to go into labour, then making love triggered contractions. If it wasn't, then making love didn't do anything for me.

An example of this was with my 5th pregnancy at the age of 40. My husband told me that he wanted me to labour on Labour Day (Labour Day is a holiday in the USA) but I didn't care. I was so ready to have that baby that I was really didn't want to wait 11 days past my due date to go into labour. So I periodically asked my husband for sex, but he refused... because he wanted me to "labour on Labour Day". Well, the day before Labour Day arrived and we made love that afternoon. At 10PM that night labour started, and my baby was born in the wee hours of the morning on Labour Day. He was able to "brag" to the guys at work that I had "laboured on Labor Day".

I believe that I may have gone into labour earlier had we made love earlier, but the semen definitely acted like a prostaglandin on the cervix, causing it to ripen, which caused contractions to start.

I have a friend who went into labour, and then her labour stopped. The midwife encouraged her and her husband to make love and rest. They did, and labour picked back up a few hours later.

Here's one of my favorite web pages with information on how to prepare for birth.

If your OB won't do a blood test you could ask your GP for one. Boosting your immune system should help with whatever it is you're fighting. Sure hope you feel better soon.

Warm Regards,

Kate