These days the first question most GPs get asked, after confirming a wanted first pregnancy is what does the woman need to take or eat, and, importantly what should she avoid.

It gets tricky doesn’t it? If you avoided everything that is said to potentially cause harm (according to the world wide web and social media) the pregnant woman will run a serious risk of malnutrition!  Much of the fear stems from the risk of contracting listeria – that surreptitious bacteria that can cause – very occasionally, severe infection in affected adults – but more importantly for the pregnant women can cause miscarriage, premature birth or stillbirth. You need some authoritative, credible information sources to fall back on when giving these vulnerable patients advice.