I’m Gina, the founder of Pregnancy Food Checker. Before writing about food for a living, I worked in the TV industry for over a decade.
In particular, I spent many years working alongside well-known chefs and cooks for BBC Food. I learned lots about nutrition, recipes and what people like to eat.
However, I also found that there were many common myths and misunderstandings surrounding food.
This all came to a head when my sister Sam became pregnant. As the ‘food geek’ of the family, she asked me to “Google” various things for her about eating in pregnancy.
She had the leaflets and guidelines from her midwife, obstetrician, the British National Health Service, and other reputable sources, but the guidelines were very general and rarely provided examples.
Other information options for pregnant women included forums or Q&A websites. Most were (and are) super helpful and supportive, but I was also shocked to see that, occasionally, food ‘advice’ was not only wrong, but dangerous.
There were some advocates of eating potentially harmful foods “because my mother ate it and I’m fine!”.
It seemed old wives’ tales and misconceptions had lived on in the age of information.
Much of this information about food and pregnancy has only come to light in the last couple of decades. For example, the dangers of listeriosis as a foodborne illness were only recognized as recently as the 1980s (as quoted in the ISRN Obstetrics and Gynecology Journal.)
This information is taking its time filtering down to the next generations.
I did everything I could to help my sister (who now has three beautiful boys) by learning everything there is to learn about eating in pregnancy.
I already had the food background and a Diploma in Human Nutrition, but I also gained a certification in Nutrition and Lifestyle in Pregnancy from the University of Munich to keep abreast of current information available to doctors and researchers in the field of nutrition and pregnancy.
I realized that much of what I’d learned could be made available online to benefit other newly-pregnant women and the people who cook and eat with them.
Together with a team of Nutritionists and Registered Dietitians, we try to replace generalized, vague information with real-life examples and brands, across the USA, the UK, Australia and others.
Most of the content on the site is applicable to all pregnant women everywhere. You all want the best for your unborn baby and want straightforward answers.
I hope that by reading this site, you’ll find that eating in pregnancy and making safer food choices becomes that little bit easier, and that you feel empowered by having evidence-based nutrition information at your fingertips.