The do's and dont's in pregnancy

I have been reading over the weekend about Stacey Soleman being pictured smoking whilst 7 months pregnant and it got me thinking about all these rules you are told to follow when pregnant, how many people really stick to them??

There are so many things when you are pregnant that you are told you can't or shouldn't eat, drink or touch and these guidelines seem to change on a yearly basis.

Now I tend to stick to most of them but mainly because most of the things we are told not to eat I don't eat when not pregnant anyway. One of the rules that has always confused me is not being able to eat peanuts. This is a prime example of things changing because recently rules have changed and they say it is alright to have nuts in pregnancy as long as there is not history or allergy, eczema, asthma etc in the family. Throughout my past three pregnancies I always avoided peanuts because there are a lot of skin conditions and asthma that runs in my family however all three of my daughters have developed eczema anyway so this time round I have decided to allow myself peanuts as I don't think it poses a danger to my unborn child. I must also admit I have eaten a runny egg :s

There are certain guidelines that I didn't know in my first pregnancy and even my second and third pregnancies I was still learning more. I never used to aware that you aren't supposed to have hot baths when pregnancy and I wasn't really aware about lowering your caffeine intake but my daughters were born absolutely healthy so it makes it difficult to know what to do for the best. 

I never drink alcohol in pregnancy and that's not to say I am against others having the occasional drink when pregnant it is just I can't shake the feeling that if I were to have a drink something might happen to my baby as there is no good research to show you the proper affects.

Do you think health professionals are over cautious or do you think what they say is right?? Do you stick to everything they say or do you use your own judgement for things??

xxxx