What to do for the best (From Times Series)

What to do for the best

8:32am Tuesday 2nd September 2008

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According to a survey released today, mums-to-be are confused about how to stay healthy during pregnancy.

The findings, by Tommy’s and Johnson’s Baby, revealed that pregnant women don’t always know what to eat or do for the best.

What’s funny is that I probably could have worked that one out just by talking to other people I know who are pregnant. In fact, I didn’t even need to do that to conclude that it’s a confusing time.

Whether it’s the media or your mother or mothers in general, everyone has an opinion about what you should and shouldn’t do when you’re expecting and more often than not these facts/ opinions differ greatly.

I remember when I first got pregnant telling my mum that I couldn’t eat liver anymore. Not that I liked liver at all but it was certainly a definite no no. Except she was adamant that in her day eating liver was absolutely fine.

One thing I knew I would miss was smoked salmon, after all, you definitely can’t eat that during pregnancy, can you? After eight weeks or so of not eating it I just found the website and advice that said it was fine to eat and decided to agree with that reasoning for the rest of my pregnancy.

You hear all sorts. Don’t lie on your back for too long. Eat oily fish but not too much tuna. Avoid soft cheeses but cream cheese is ok. Don’t start any exercise you weren’t doing before, but perhaps try yoga or swimming. Chocolate can make your baby kick if it’s not moving but avoid sweet foods. The list goes on.

No wonder we’re confused when we’re pregnant and it doesn’t help that every five minutes the advice changes.

Some people say it’s advances in research that are making it more possible to work out exactly what’s good for the baby and mother-to-be. But back in the day when my mum and her mum were having children they were much less restricted by all these dos and don’ts and I turned out ok...

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