As long as it’s cooked you’re fine.

So the concern with sushi is parasites and not listeria. However a lot of sushi actually comes from fish that is flash frozen in order to kill the parasites. I would call your local sushi place and ask them if their fish is flash frozen. If it is, it’d probably fine to eat it, according to the NHS at least!

I’m pregnant and have eaten it. I think much of the guidance on unsafe food for pregnancy is unrealistic. I’ve been eating sushi, medium-rare steaks, deli meat, runny eggs etc for literal decades and have never gotten sick. You’re more likely to get listeria from bagged lettuce or pre-cut cantaloupe!

No, you should not name your child Sushi.

I ate sushi through both pregnancies. Check out the science behind the concerns - you are more susceptible to food poisoning while pregnant, and sushi carries an inherent risk there. But the risk is to you, not the fetus. I'd avoid anything high mercury, but wouldn't think twice about sushi due to the fact of it being raw. Listeria is not lurking on raw fish any more than it is anything else (most listeria outbreaks in the country have been traced back to salad).

I always eat salmon sashimi during my pregnancies. *shrugs* It's flash frozen, not sure what the problem is?

OP here. Thanks everyone! Will check out both books.

I am in my first trimester and have had it twice! My doctor said as long as I avoid high-mercury fish and get it from a reputable establishment, it is a-ok! I also really liked the reasonable guidance in this book, written by a doctor at Reiter Hill - “What They Don’t Tell You About Having a Baby”. It reiterates sushi is generally okay.

I personally just don’t think it’s worth it, sorry!

Anonymous wrote:I’ve eaten sushi with all 3 pregnancies. Read expecting better to understand the risk

+1 I have eaten it through my two pregnancies, mostly just salmon (but raw) because reading expecting better it’s not about listeria risk with sushi (not sure the other post but doesn’t sound very accurate to me since I’ve never heard of listeria coming from raw fish - and just looked it up to confirm. The concern with sushi is not listeria, you can read about it here - it was originally because of potential parasites but almost all raw fish in the US is flash frozen which kills all of that risk. So if you want to be extra careful, ask the restaurant if their fish is flash frozen. If it is you are fine and worst that could happen is an upset stomach. I agree listeria is very serious and the consequences can be serious. I avoid some of the high culprits during pregnancy for that reason. But the issue with sushi is very separate and not related to listeria, so I think the previous poster may have heard something wrong through the grapevine about how her friend actually caught the listeria.

This article explains listeria risks and risks with sushi well: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.lucieslist.com/pregnant-food-safety/%3Famp

I’ve eaten sushi with all 3 pregnancies. Read expecting better to understand the risk

You could do sushi with cooked fish

I ate it while pregnant 3 years ago. All was fine. Don’t buy it from a gas station.

I personally know someone who lost a pregnancy due to listeria from a roll of vegetable sushi (same knife was used as raw fish), so I passed on it throughout my entire pregnancy, more because of contamination than mercury. I think in moderation the Mercury aspect is probably fine.

Pregnant with my third and I’m wondering if the guidance changed on this at all. I know it did in England cos my British friends told me that the NHS says sushi from low mercury fish is ok. I wouldn’t care that much but I am grumpy, extremely nauseous and have thrown up twice so far. Sushi is the only thing that sounds palatable right now.