What to Do If You Get Food Poisoning While Pregnant

In addition to nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, common symptoms of food poisoning during pregnancy include:

Food Poisoning When Pregnant

It’s common to have morning sickness when you’re pregnant. But sometimes your symptoms might come from something else — food poisoning.

How can you tell if it’s a foodborne illness that’s making you sick? Once you know it is, how can you treat it safely when you have a baby on board?

Types of Food Poisoning

Your immune system is weaker than usual when you’re pregnant, so it’s harder for your body to fight off germs that might hitch a ride on food and make you feel bad.

You can get food poisoning when you eat foods contaminated with:

• Bacteria
• Parasites
• Viruses
• Certain chemicals

There are many types of food poisoning. Some are more common, and more dangerous, when you’re pregnant.

• Listeriosis. This comes from listeria bacteria. Pregnant women are 13 times more likely to get listeriosis than other people. It can lurk in ready-to-eat meats like hot dogs and cold cuts. Poultry, seafood, and dairy products can have it, too, especially if they’re not pasteurized. It can grow even on foods that are cold in the refrigerator.
• Escherichia coli(E. coli). This bacteria lives in your gut naturally. Still, you can get sick if you eat contaminated fruits and vegetables, raw or undercooked meats, or unpasteurized milk and fruit juices with certain types of E. coli.
• Salmonella. This bacteria causes something called salmonellosis. Most often, you get it from undercooked or raw eggs, meats, poultry, or unpasteurized foods. You can also get it if you eat food that has touched soil or animal poop infected with salmonella.
• Campylobacter. You get this bacteria mainly through contaminated chicken or unpasteurized foods.
• Norovirus. This is the main cause of foodborne illness in the U.S. The virus spreads easily through contaminated food and drinks.

Symptoms of Food Poisoning During Pregnancy

It can be tricky to know when food poisoning is to blame for your sickness. Sometimes, germs from food can make you sick right away. Other times, they hang around in your body for days or even weeks before you have symptoms.

Usually, it causes:

Often, food poisoning can feel like the flu, because you might have fever, headache, and body aches along with your other things.

Home Remedies for Food Poisoning When Pregnant

When you’re pregnant, it’s more than just your health you’re protecting. Some bouts of food poisoning can pose problems for your baby, whose immune system isn’t strong enough yet to fight off germs.

When you start having symptoms that seem like food poisoning, call your doctor right away. They can help you figure out if it is food poisoning, and if so, what may have caused it.

You may be able to handle your symptoms at home with your doctor’s guidance. However, if you’re vomiting and having diarrhea, you may need treatment at the doctor’s office or even a hospital. Don’t take any over-the-counter medications without talking to your doctor first.

If your case is mild enough to treat at home, work on rest and rehydration. Get fluids however you can: ice chips, small sips of water or clear liquids, or by drinking a sports drink with electrolytes in it. Wait until you’re sure your vomiting is over before you try to eat. Take your first foods slowly, and stick with bland, non-greasy foods.

When to See a Doctor About Food Poisoning When Pregnant

Your food poisoning needs professional treatment if you’re having:

• Signs of dehydration like excessive thirst, dry lips, little to no urine, or dizziness
• Vomiting or diarrhea that won’t stop
• Severe pain in your abdomen
• A fever higher than 101 F
• Blood or pus in your stool
• Black or tarry stool

Call your doctor right away if you have one or more of these problems. They’ll do tests on your blood or stool to find out what’s making you sick. You may need treatment with antibiotics. They’ll also want to be sure your body has enough fluids. You may need an IV to help your body rehydrate.

Complications of Food Poisoning When Pregnant

Certain kinds of food poisoning are very dangerous for your unborn baby.

If you get listeriosis , you may have no symptoms at all. However, you can pass it on to your baby. That can cause serious health problems like:

At worst case, listeriosis can cause preterm labor, low birthweight, and even miscarriage or stillbirth.

Salmonellosis can also pass to your baby and put them at risk of serious complications like meningitis.

Campylobacter can cause miscarriage if you get it early in your pregnancy. It’s also very dangerous if you have it at the time you give birth and pass it to your newborn. Infection in a new baby can be life-threatening.

For you, the most common complication from food poisoning in general is dehydration. Some foodborne illnesses, especially E. coli, can also cause kidney damage.

Preventing Food Poisoning When Pregnant

You can protect yourself from many kinds of food poisoning, whether you’re pregnant or not, by being careful about what you eat and how you handle it.

Safe food handling tips:

• Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before and after you touch food.
• Don’t let raw meat come in contact with anything you’ll eat raw, like produce, or food that’s already prepared.
• Keep perishable foods refrigerated or frozen.
• Clean fruits and vegetables before you eat or cook them.
• Wash utensils and food prep surfaces after you use them.
• Cook food to a high enough temperature to kill germs.
• Refrigerate leftovers right away. Don’t eat food that’s been sitting out or that has expired.

Certain foods should be off the menu until after your baby is born. Don’t eat or drink:

• Unpasteurized dairy products, like raw milk and some brands of soft cheese
• Raw or undercooked meat, poultry, fish, or shellfish
• Runny or raw eggs, or things that contain them, like cookie dough and homemade eggnog. Pasteurized raw eggs are OK.
• Hot dogs or deli meat, unless heated to 165 degrees
• Refrigerated patés or meat spreads. Jarred or canned are OK.
• Premade chicken, ham, or seafood salads from a deli
• Smoked fish, unless it came from a can or you cook it
• Unpasteurized juice or cider
• Sprouts

Also pay attention to food recalls. Companies have to tell the public if they find out something they’ve sold is making people sick.

Show Sources

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: “Nutrition During Pregnancy.”

Antimicrobe.org: “Campylobacter species.”

eMedicine Health: “Food Poisoning.”

FDA: “While You’re Pregnant – What Is Foodborne Illness?” “Food Safety for Moms-To-Be: While You’re Pregnant – Listeria,” “Food Safety for Mom To Be At-a-Glance.”

Foodsafety.gov: “Food Safety for Pregnant Women,” “Food Poisoning,” “People at Risk: Pregnant Women.”

March of Dimes: “Salmonellosis,” “Food Poisoning During Pregnancy.”

Mother to Baby: “E. coli and pregnancy.”

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases: “Foodborne Illnesses,” “Food Poisoning.”

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs: “Food-borne Illness During Pregnancy – Women’s Health.”

Mayo Clinic: “Food Poisoning.”

What to Do If You Get Food Poisoning While Pregnant

We include products we think are useful for our readers. If you buy through links on this page, we may earn a small commission Here’s our process.

How we vet brands and products

Healthline only shows you brands and products that we stand behind.

• Evaluate ingredients and composition: Do they have the potential to cause harm?
• Fact-check all health claims: Do they align with the current body of scientific evidence?
• Assess the brand: Does it operate with integrity and adhere to industry best practices?

Was this helpful?

If you have food poisoning, it means you’ve consumed something that contains bacteria, a virus, or a toxin that’s causing your body to react negatively. Often characterized by vomiting, nausea, or diarrhea, food poisoning is an unpleasant experience for anyone.

During pregnancy, food poisoning can cause anxiety. In addition to feeling ill, you’re worried about the safety of your unborn child.

If you get food poisoning while pregnant, it can be dangerous. If you get food poisoning during pregnancy, it’s important to let your doctor know right away.

Food safety is an important issue for pregnant women, for good reason. In the worst cases, it can cause miscarriage, stillbirth, or premature delivery.

Pregnant women are more vulnerable to food poisoning because of changes to their metabolism and circulation. Here’s a look at the causes, symptoms, and treatment options for food poisoning during pregnancy.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) , you’re prone to foodborne illnesses during pregnancy because your immune system is altered. This suppressed state of immunity is largely because your hormones are in flux.

During pregnancy, most of your energy goes toward your body’s prime mission of growing your baby. For this reason, pregnant women need to be careful about what they eat and how it’s prepared.

In addition, your baby’s immune system is underdeveloped. If you get food poisoning, it can be dangerous for them.

In addition to nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, common symptoms of food poisoning during pregnancy include:

With the constant changes your body experiences during pregnancy, it might be difficult to tell if symptoms such as nausea and vomiting are normal or if they’re caused by food poisoning.

Look for symptoms that present themselves suddenly or feel abnormal. If you’re unsure, it’s best to consult your doctor to rule out an infection or virus.

The most common types of food poisoning include:

If left untreated, all of these can be dangerous during pregnancy.

If you think you have food poisoning from a foodborne illness, contact your doctor right away. If you think you’ve fallen ill after eating out, also contact your local health department. They can investigate if there’s a serious foodborne illness outbreak in your area.

Dehydration is one of the most common complications of food poisoning. This is because of the diarrhea and vomiting that you’re experiencing.

To replenish lost fluids, it’s important to ramp up water consumption. If you’re throwing up, start by slowly drinking a sip of water until liquids are tolerated. Then build up slowly from there.

Keep in mind that your body is comprised primarily of water. It’s the body’s master cleanser, flusher, and detoxifier. Keeping your fluid intake continuous will play a role in how quickly your body recovers from illness.

Water’s the most economical and universally effective way to help your body heal. Ideally, you want to consume clean, purified water from a trusted home filter or bottled source.

Let your doctor know if you become dehydrated. Severe dehydration during pregnancy might require hospitalization or an IV to issue fluids.

In addition to dehydration, food poisoning can also lead to other severe complications.

• Norovirus can lead to malnutrition in some rare cases.
• Listeria can cause long-term neurological development problems for your fetus.
• E. coli can cause blood vessel lining damage or kidney failure, often indicated by bloody stools.
• Salmonella has the potential to cause meningitis, reactive arthritis, and bacteremia.

In extreme cases, food poisoning can cause miscarriage or stillbirth.

For these reasons, it’s important to be careful about what you eat during pregnancy.

Food safety is important during pregnancy. To avoid getting sick, follow all of your doctor’s instructions for preparing food, and avoid foods that aren’t pregnancy-safe.

There are several precautions you can take in order to minimize your chances of experiencing food poisoning while pregnant.

Keep these pointers in mind when you’re preparing food.

• Keep raw foods separate from ready-to-eat foods.
• Steer clear of raw or unpasteurized dairy.
• Thoroughly cook your raw meat. Use a meat thermometer if need be. Some harmful bacteria can’t survive at a high temperature.
• Avoid packaged meats as much as possible.
• Wash fruits and vegetables well before eating.
• Store perishable foods safely.
• Pay attention to expiration dates.
• Store foods in the freezer to retain optimum freshness.
• Opt to defrost foods instead of letting them sit out at room temperature.

Foods and beverages to avoid during pregnancy include:

• uncooked or raw meat, poultry, seafood, eggs
• unpasteurized fruit or vegetable juices
• unpasteurized dairy products
• spreads containing cheese or meat
• packaged meats

Getting rid of mild food poisoning symptoms can be a dreadful period of trial and error, especially during pregnancy. Talk to your doctor to decide what the best healing approach is for you.

Food poisoning can’t always be treated at home. Your doctor may recommend and prescribe medication.

More serious cases of food poisoning might require antibiotics. Listeria during pregnancy is commonly treated via hospitalization and administered IV antibiotics.

Last medically reviewed on December 18, 2018