So, I might be alone here, but in my canvassing the interesting literature this morning, I stumbled across this Clinical Expert Series in Obstetrics & Gynecology and thought: “This is great! I wish we’d (myself and my wife) had this four years ago!”
It’s a concise summary of the evidence (mostly lack thereof) and recommendations for things pregnant women “should and should not routinely do during pregnancy.” There’s so much nonsense floating around on the internet, and so many dark wombat burrows full of sinister imaginings, I almost feel this would be a good document to hand out to pregnant patients with adequate levels of health literacy.
A few highlights:
- Prenatal vitamins are unlikely to be harmful, but potentially unnecessary for women already consuming balanced diets.
- Alcohol consumption up to 7-9 drinks per week does not appear to be harmful, but no specific threshold for safety is known.
- Up to 300 mg/d of caffeine is probably safe.
- Examples of good fish are anchovies, Atlantic herring, Atlantic mackerel, mussels, oysters, wild salmon, sardines, snapper, and trout.
- Appropriately prepared sushi is unlikely to give you a tapeworm.
- “Pregnant women should avoid foods that are being recalled for possible Listeria contamination.”
- Using toxic insect repellent is probably safer than the risk of insect-borne illness, where appropriate.
… and many more! Useful!
“Dos and Don’ts in Pregnancy – Truths and Myths”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29528917