Pregnant and traveling

Being pregnant does not mean giving up the food of the places you visit. Most meals are perfectly fine. A few infections are more serious during pregnancy, though, so a handful of foods are best avoided or eaten only when well cooked.

The short version: choose food that is freshly cooked and served steaming hot, dairy made from pasteurized milk, and sealed bottled or boiled water. If you get sick, drink fluids first and ask a doctor or pharmacist before taking any medicine. This page is general information, not medical advice: talk to your doctor or midwife about your own pregnancy and trip.

For the basics that apply to every traveler, see our guides on avoiding food poisoning when traveling, tap water and ice and street food. This guide focuses on what is different when you are pregnant.

Why pregnancy changes the risk

A few germs found in food and water matter more during pregnancy, because they can make you more seriously ill or reach the baby.

• Listeria. The CDC says pregnant women are 10 times more likely to get a Listeria infection. It is found in foods such as soft cheeses, deli meats, pâté and cold-smoked fish. The NHS says listeriosis in pregnancy can cause miscarriage or stillbirth, or make a newborn baby seriously ill.
• Toxoplasmosis. This parasite can come from raw, undercooked or cured meat, and from soil on unwashed fruit and vegetables. The NHS says infection during pregnancy can cause miscarriage and, if it reaches the baby, serious complications.
• Salmonella. Found in raw or undercooked eggs and poultry. The NHS says it is unlikely to harm the baby, but it can give you a bad bout of food poisoning.
• Hepatitis E. A liver infection spread mainly through contaminated drinking water. The WHO says it is most common in East and South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and that pregnant women, especially in the second and third trimesters, are at higher risk of liver failure, losing the baby and death.

The CDC adds that pregnant travelers with diarrhea can become dehydrated more easily than other travelers. That is one more reason to be careful with food and water, and to rehydrate quickly if you do get sick.

Foods to avoid or eat only well cooked

This table is based on the NHS and CDC lists of foods to avoid in pregnancy. The rule of thumb is simple: hot and well cooked is usually fine, cold and raw is where most of the risk is.

Food	Avoid	Usually fine
Cheese and dairy	Soft cheeses made from raw milk (some brie, camembert, queso fresco), soft blue cheeses, raw milk, raw-milk yogurt and ice cream	Hard cheeses, pasteurized cheeses, any cheese cooked until steaming hot, pasteurized milk and ice cream
Meat	Raw or undercooked meat, rare steak, cold cured meats (salami, prosciutto), cold deli meats and hot dogs, refrigerated pâté, liver	Meat cooked through with no pink or blood; deli meats and cured meats heated until steaming hot
Eggs	Raw or runny eggs and dishes made with them, such as homemade mayonnaise, mousse or Caesar dressing	Eggs cooked until the white and yolk are firm
Fish and shellfish	Sushi, sashimi and ceviche made with raw fish, raw oysters and other raw shellfish, cold-smoked fish such as lox, shark and swordfish	Fish cooked until it flakes easily, cooked shellfish such as prawns, mussels or squid, sushi with cooked fish or vegetables
Drinks	Unpasteurized fruit juice and cider, raw milk, alcohol	Pasteurized juice and milk, sealed bottled drinks
Fruit and vegetables	Raw sprouts, unwashed salad and fruit, cut melon left out for a long time	Fruit you peel yourself, salad washed in safe water, cooked vegetables

A few details worth knowing:

• Sushi. The NHS advises against sushi made with raw fish even if it was frozen first. Rolls with cooked fish, cooked shellfish or vegetables are fine.
• Big fish. The CDC and NHS advise avoiding fish that are high in mercury, such as shark and swordfish. The NHS also suggests no more than 2 portions of oily fish and 4 cans or 2 steaks of tuna a week.
• Unpasteurized juice. Freshly squeezed juice from a market stall or a hotel buffet is usually not pasteurized. The CDC says to bring unpasteurized juice to a rolling boil for at least 1 minute before drinking it, which in practice means choosing sealed, pasteurized juice instead.
• Caffeine and herbal tea. The NHS advises no more than 200 mg of caffeine a day, and no more than 4 cups of herbal tea a day.

Labels and rules differ from country to country, so “pasteurized” is not always written on the pack or the menu. When you are not sure, ask, or choose the cooked option.

Water and ice

The CDC says bottled or boiled water is the best choice during pregnancy, because some germs can survive chemical treatment or filtering.

• Drink sealed bottled water, or water brought to a rolling boil.
• Skip ice unless you know it was made from safe water.
• Do not drink water treated with iodine. The CDC says pregnant travelers should avoid it because of possible effects on the baby’s thyroid. Iodine tablets and some travel filters use it, so check the label.

Hepatitis E is one more reason to be strict about water in places where it is common: the WHO’s main advice is to avoid water and ice of unknown purity. Our guide to tap water and ice explains how to tell when tap water is safe and how to treat it.

Street food and buffets: what to choose, what to skip

You can still enjoy local food. It is mostly a question of choosing the right dishes.

Good choices:

• dishes cooked in front of you and served steaming hot: grilled meat cooked through, noodle soups, stir-fries, curries, fried snacks
• bread, rice and other foods freshly cooked
• fruit you peel yourself, such as bananas, oranges or mangoes
• sealed bottled drinks, and hot tea or coffee (within your caffeine limit)

Better to skip:

• raw salads, herbs and garnishes, and fruit already cut
• raw or runny eggs, and sauces made with them
• rare meat, raw fish and raw shellfish
• fresh juices, smoothies and drinks with ice
• soft cheeses and dairy desserts when you do not know if they are pasteurized
• cold meats, pâté and smoked fish on breakfast buffets

At buffets, hot food should be really hot and cold food really cold. Food that has been sitting lukewarm for a long time is the one to leave. Ask for a freshly cooked egg or dish when you can.

Our guide to street food explains how to spot a good stall, and our guide on choosing a safe restaurant covers restaurants and buffets.

If you get sick

Most food poisoning is mild and passes in a few days. During pregnancy, act a little earlier.

1. Rehydrate first. The CDC calls prompt, generous rehydration the treatment of choice for travelers’ diarrhea in pregnancy. Sip safe fluids often, ideally oral rehydration solution (ORS), mixed with bottled or boiled water. The NHS advises keeping hydrated and continuing to eat for the health of your baby.
2. Ask before taking medicines. The NHS says some treatments for stomach upsets are not suitable during pregnancy. The CDC advises avoiding bismuth subsalicylate (the active ingredient of Pepto-Bismol) because of possible effects on the baby. If you need an antibiotic, a doctor can choose one that is suitable in pregnancy.
3. Watch for the warning signs below, and do not wait to see a doctor if any appear.

Get medical care right away if you have any of these signs, which are on the CDC’s list for pregnant travelers:

• a fever of 38°C (100.4°F) or higher
• severe nausea and vomiting, or you cannot keep fluids down
• your baby moving less, or not moving
• severe stomach pain, or contractions
• vaginal bleeding or fluid leaking
• dizziness or fainting
• a headache that does not go away or gets worse, or changes in your vision
• trouble breathing, chest pain or a racing heart

Listeriosis and toxoplasmosis often feel like flu: a high temperature, aches, chills, feeling sick or diarrhea. The NHS says pregnant women with listeriosis may also have stomach pain or notice the baby moving less. If you have these symptoms, especially after eating one of the foods above, get an urgent appointment with a doctor and tell them what you ate. Both can be treated, usually with antibiotics.

Yellow skin or eyes (jaundice), dark urine or pale stools can be signs of hepatitis, which the WHO says can take 2 to 10 weeks to appear. See a doctor and say where you traveled, even if you are already home.

For more on rehydration and getting care abroad, see our guide on food poisoning while traveling.

Before you go

• Talk to your doctor or midwife. Tell them where you are going and ask what applies to you. The CDC suggests a prenatal check-up before the trip, and carrying your pregnancy records and your doctor’s contact details. The NHS says many women find the middle of pregnancy, between 4 and 6 months, the most comfortable time to travel.
• Ask about vaccines. Some travel vaccines are fine in pregnancy and others are not. The NHS says non-live (inactivated) vaccines are safe, while most live vaccines are not recommended unless the risk of infection is greater than the risk of the vaccine. The CDC lists hepatitis A and hepatitis B vaccines among those that can be given to pregnant women at risk. Your doctor will weigh the others, such as typhoid or yellow fever, against your destination.
• Check your destination. The NHS advises pregnant travelers not to go to areas with Zika. Ask your doctor about malaria and other risks where you are going too.
• Get travel insurance that covers pregnancy. The CDC warns that many health insurance plans do not cover pregnancy or newborn complications abroad, and suggests insurance that covers pregnancy and newborn care, plus medical evacuation. The NHS adds that your policy should cover premature birth and changing your return date.
• Know where to go. The CDC suggests finding out before you leave which hospitals at your destination can handle pregnancy complications.
• Pack a small kit: oral rehydration salts, a thermometer and any medicine your doctor has approved for the trip.

In the cities it covers (see destinations), safeat shows restaurants where our review found no food-safety concern in the last 12 months. It is a starting point, not an inspection or a guarantee, and it cannot tell you whether a dish suits your pregnancy: the choices on this page still apply.