Pregnancy

When you drink, alcohol reaches your baby through the placenta. Too much exposure to alcohol can seriously affect your baby's development. If you're trying to conceive, or are already pregnant, the government advises that you should avoid drinking alcohol. The safest approach is to not drink at all.

Caffeine 

You don't need to cut out caffeine completely, but don't have more than 200mg a day as high levels can result in babies having a low birth weight, which can increase the risk of health problems in later life. Too much caffeine can also cause miscarriage. There's caffeine in chocolate, cola and 'energy' drinks, as well as tea and coffee.

The amount of caffeine in foods and drinks will vary, but each of the following contains roughly 200mg of caffeine or less:

• Two mugs of tea (75mg each). 
• Two mugs of instant coffee (100mg each). 
• One mug of filter coffee (140mg each).  
• Five cans of cola (around 40mg each).
• Two cans of 'energy' drink (around 80mg each).
• Four 50g bars of dark chocolate (around 50g of caffeine each). Milk chocolate contains around half as much caffeine as dark chocolate.

Eating safely

• Do cook eggs thoroughly until the whites and yolks are solid
• Do make sure that all meats are cooked thoroughly
• Do wash your hands, utensils and work surfaces after handling raw meat 
• Do wash fruit, vegetables and salads to remove all traces of soil

And: 

• Don't eat mould-ripened soft cheese or blue cheese
• Don't eat any kind of paté, including vegetable paté
• Don't eat liver or liver products
• Don't eat more than two portions of oily fish a week
• Don't eat marlin, shark or swordfish - these can contain high levels of mercury
• Don't eat raw shellfish

Balanced diet

A well-balanced diet will supply all the energy and nutrients needed by you and your growing baby.

• Do eat plenty of fruit and vegetables; at least five portions a day.
• Do eat plenty of foods from the starchy carbohydrate group
• Do have milk and other dairy products to ensure that you have a good intake of calcium
• Do eat protein foods, such as meat, fish, poultry, eggs, beans, soya and pulses
• Do stay active and move around

And:

• Don't eat for two
• Don't try to lose weight during pregnancy

Nuts

If you want to eat peanuts or foods containing peanuts (such as peanut butter) during pregnancy, you can do so as part of a healthy balanced diet, unless you're allergic to them or your health professional advises you not to.

If you have any queries, talk to your GP, midwife or your health visitor.