Foods to Avoid During Pregnancy
A calm, sourced guide to what to skip, what to limit, and what’s perfectly safe to enjoy while pregnant. Most foods are fine — the list to actually avoid is shorter than the internet makes it feel. Tap any item for the full answer — foods, drinks, the lifestyle questions (hot tubs, hair dye, flying), and the medicine-cabinet ones (Tylenol, Tums, allergy and cold remedies) that come up just as often.
Safe to enjoy
Generally fine — and often encouraged.
Only with care
Safe if prepared right — usually 'heat until steaming'.
The four things behind the list
Almost every pregnancy food rule traces back to one of four risks, and knowing them lets you answer most questions yourself:
- Listeria — a bacterium that grows even in the fridge. It’s behind the advice on cold deli meats, pâté, and mould-ripened soft cheeses. Heating food until steaming hot kills it.
- Mercury — builds up in some fish and can affect a baby’s developing nervous system, so high-mercury fish are limited or avoided and low-mercury fish are encouraged (~8–12 oz/week).
- Caffeine — crosses the placenta, so keep your total under about 200 mg a day (count coffee, tea, matcha, cola, chocolate).
- Alcohol — passes straight to the baby with no known safe amount, so the advice is to avoid it entirely.
When you’re unsure about a specific food, “is it raw, unpasteurised, high-mercury, or cold cured meat?” answers most of it — and if not, cooking it until steaming hot usually does. Track where you are with our How Far Along Am I? calculator and week-by-week guide.
Activities & lifestyle in pregnancy
It’s not just food — the same “is this okay?” question comes up for everyday things. Most come down to three: avoiding overheating (hot tubs, saunas, very hot baths), avoiding a hard fall or jarring impact (contact sports, high-force rides), and a little caution around infection (tattoos). Gentle movement, by contrast, is actively encouraged.
Safe — often encouraged
Good to keep doing in a healthy pregnancy.
Medications & remedies in pregnancy
The common over-the-counter questions. The golden rules: your provider or pharmacist knows best, single-ingredient products beat combination cold-and-flu blends, and acetaminophen (Tylenol) is the usual go-to for pain or fever while ibuprofen is avoided from about 20 weeks. This is general information, not a prescription — always confirm anything you take with your provider.
Generally low-risk
Commonly used in pregnancy — still worth a quick check.
Check with your provider
Depends on the type, dose, or trimester — ask first.
Frequently asked questions
- What foods should you avoid during pregnancy?
- The main ones are: raw or undercooked meat, fish, and eggs; high-mercury fish (shark, swordfish, king mackerel, bigeye tuna); cold or unheated deli meats and pâté; mould-ripened soft cheeses (brie, camembert) and soft blue cheeses unless cooked; raw shellfish; unpasteurised milk and cheese; and alcohol. Caffeine should be limited to under about 200 mg a day. Most other foods are fine.
- Why are these foods a risk in pregnancy?
- Three culprits cover most of the list. Listeria, a bacterium that grows even in the fridge, is why chilled ready-to-eat meats and certain soft cheeses are heated or avoided. Mercury, which can affect a baby's developing nervous system, is why some fish are limited. And toxoplasma and other bugs in raw or undercooked food can cause infections that are more serious in pregnancy. Cooking food until steaming hot removes most of these risks.
- Can I eat out / order takeaway while pregnant?
- Yes — just steer toward thoroughly cooked dishes and away from the raw and cold-cured items above. Ask for meat, fish, and eggs to be well cooked, choose cooked sushi, and skip the raw bar. When in doubt about how something was prepared, it's reasonable to ask or pick a clearly cooked option.
- What activities should you avoid during pregnancy?
- The main ones are anything that overheats you (hot tubs, saunas, very hot baths), high-impact or jarring activities and those with a fall risk (contact sports, skiing, horse riding, big roller coasters), and scuba diving. Tattoos are usually best postponed. On the other side, gentle exercise — walking, swimming, prenatal yoga — is actively encouraged, around 150 minutes a week. Flying and hair dye are generally considered fine in a healthy pregnancy.
- What medicines are safe to take during pregnancy?
- Acetaminophen (Tylenol/paracetamol) is generally the preferred choice for pain and fever, at the lowest effective dose. Antacids like Tums and the H2 blocker famotidine (Pepcid) are commonly used for heartburn, and second-generation antihistamines like cetirizine (Zyrtec) and loratadine (Claritin) are generally considered low-risk for allergies. Ibuprofen and other NSAIDs are best avoided (especially from 20 weeks), and combination cold-and-flu products and Pepto-Bismol are usually avoided. This is general information — always confirm anything you take with your provider or pharmacist, who can advise for your situation and stage.
- Is this guidance the same everywhere?
- It's broadly consistent across the NHS, FDA, ACOG, and similar bodies, but small details differ by country (for example, exact caffeine limits or specific cheeses). This guide reflects mainstream advice — for your situation, your provider or midwife is the final word, especially if you have a condition like gestational diabetes or a weakened immune system.