This sheet is about exposure to toxoplasmosis in pregnancy and while breastfeeding. This information should not take the place of medical care and advice from your healthcare provider. What is toxoplasmosis? Toxoplasmosis is an infection caused by the parasite Toxoplasma gondii. Toxoplasma gondii can be found in raw or undercooked meat, raw eggs, and unpasteurized (raw) milk. Cats that eat raw meat or rodents can become infected. Once infected, the cat can shed the parasite in the feces …
Search Results for: toxoplasmosis
Baby Blog: The Cat Can Stay: Debunking Pregnancy Myths about Toxoplasmosis
By Robert Felix, MotherToBaby Past President I’ll never forget the panic in her voice. “The web said, ‘stay away from cats when you’re pregnant because your baby can be mentally retarded!” It was the first thing this soon-to-be mom could get out the second I picked up the phone. “It is true? I got rid of my cat immediately because I was so worried and I feel terrible about it,” she breathlessly explained. As a teratogen information specialist (someone trained to answer questions about exposures …
Baby Blog: Special Birth Defects Prevention Month Blog! The Flu: Why Prevention is Key during Pregnancy
By MotherToBaby, a service of the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS) Why should pregnant women care about influenza? Isn’t Zika a bigger deal? The second you get pregnant, the advice starts coming in from everyone. No eating unpasteurized cheese (Listeria!), don’t change the cat litter (Toxoplasmosis!), and definitely don’t travel to South America (Zika!). While these are all valid concerns, influenza tends to get forgotten, and dismissed as “just the flu.” The Influenza …
Baby Blog: “Spread Prevention, Not the Infection” during Pregnancy
By MotherToBaby’s Kirstie Perrotta, MPH, Lorrie Harris-Sagaribay, MPH, Robert Felix and Susan Sherman of the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS) Zika Task Force “It’s 2018! I didn’t even know you could get syphilis nowadays!” Yes, I mentioned the stats about syphilis and other infections that can affect pregnancy to the caller who had contacted me through our free MotherToBaby helpline. I thought, this is a great time to educate her as well as others about a variety of …
Fact Sheet: Eating Raw, Undercooked, or Cold Meats and Seafood
This sheet is about eating raw, undercooked, or cold meats and seafood in pregnancy and while breastfeeding. This information is based on available published literature. It should not take the place of medical care and advice from your healthcare provider. What are raw, undercooked, or cold meats and seafood? Raw meat or seafood is any meat or seafood product that has not been cooked at all. Undercooked meat or seafood has been cooked in part but has not been heated to the safe minimum …
