Don't Mix Peanuts and Pregnancy
A recent study, however, showed that if pregnant women ate peanuts, their child was 4 times more likely to develop peanut allergy. And, if the mother ate peanuts during breastfeeding, the risk of the child developing peanut allergy was 2 times higher.
So what to do? The jury is still out. Most studies do not show any long-term benefit for the baby if mothers avoid various foods during pregnancy, and risks may outweight the benefits in regards to nutritional considerations. Studies do show benefit for reducing allergies in children when nursing mothers avoid highly allergenic foods such as peanuts, seafood and eggs. However, maternal avoidance of foods during breastfeeding should only be done under medical supervision to ensure that the baby is receiving adequate nutrition.
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Comments
I’m not convinced one way or the other. When I was pregnant with my daughter 9 years ago, there wasn’t a lot in the media about avoiding peanuts during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Since neither my husband nor myself have food allergies, I didn’t hesitate to eat peanut butter, especially since it was one of the few foods I could stomach. When my daughter turned a year old, she had a reaction while eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She subsequently tested positive for peanut allergy. Needless to say, I felt pretty guilty once the media began telling pregnant and nursing mothers to avoid peanut products. Three years later, while pregnant with my son, I avoided all peanut products. I didn’t eat anything peanut-related while nursing either. Because of my daughter’s allergy, we were told not to let him have anything to eat that contained peanuts until after he was 3 years old. A week before he turned 3, he experienced a slight reaction while making a peanut-butter bird feeder at daycare (with my permission…after all, he wasn’t ingesting it). He since has also tested positive for peanut allergy. So who knows what causes or contributes to this allergy? After 2 pregnancies, one eating peanuts and one abstaining, I ended up with the same result.