Raw Milk (risky in pregnancy?)

[Dot-to-Dot]

Before becoming pregnant, I was searching out a good source of raw milk and was considering trying it for myself and my 1 year old daughter. I found a great farm who will supply me with some...but, since then I have read horrifying articles online about how dangerous it is. (Of course, I've read encouraging articles too...but jeez, how the heck do I know what's right!?) Dr. Oz says it's bad. Mercola says it's the only dairy you should drink. Now I'm wondering if I should stay away from it, at least during pregnancy. I kinda have a rule where I don't give my dd anything that I wouldn't eat myself, or anything that I haven't tested and so I don't feel comfortable giving it to her and not myself. So I'm debating waiting until next summer to start. But, in the meantime, I hate thinking of what all that pasteurized milk is doing to her. I've read SO many bad things about pasteurized milk in general and I believe that we should go without milk before drinking a bunch of pasteurized milk...but I can't really do that with a baby who, sadly, does not breastfeed any longer.

*The farm sends monthly test samples of milk to the state dairy lab and the results have been "excellent" thus far.*

[goldenwillow]

Good for you on finding a raw milk supplier that is clean and healthy!

I completely support the use of raw milk. Pasteurized/homogenized just doesn't make any sense to me. Why mess with perfection!

I drank it daily during my pregnancy and now give it to my DS (15 months) and he is still nursing like a champ! I had no morning sickness and and a safe, quick labor with no tears and my DS was safely born at home.

I have always been lactose intolerant all my life until switching to raw milk. I can enjoy cheese again (we make our own)!

It is important to remember while reading the negative press... who is funding it? Just like anything else that threatens big industry, someone on top is going to try to squash it!

It is really sad to me that it is such a political issue!

[EdnaMarie]

I personally would not drink raw milk because of the risk of listeria and what listeria IN PARTICULAR can do to the fetus.

However, consider that you can do a lot less damage to the milk by pasteurizing and cooking it at home, and doing a home-pasteurization:

http://www.motherearthnews.com/ask-o...k-at-home.aspx

That way, you have excellent safety plus much fewer nutrients lost.

Where my husband is from, that is the standard they use. They use it because they do have personal experiences with getting sick from raw milk, as there is that risk, but they also prefer it to bottled milk.

Good luck!

[blessedwith7]

If you can find raw milk from a *trustworthy* source I would go for it. Our entire family has been drinking it steady for years and this is my 4th pregnancy while drinking it. I have a large glassful every night with supper plus use it in oatmeal, pancakes, etc. If it worries you too much I would wait to make the switch until you are not pregnant or maybe you can get some reassurance from families who get milk from that particular farm.

[MamaFern]

we drink raw milk too and i think its amazing! my midwife says its completely safe, at least from the source we get it from (her family also gets the same milk) i think the likleyhood of getting sick from raw milk is pretty small..

[SilverSage]

I raise goats and drink the milk raw and am pregnant. That said, however, think very hard about it. The big risk is listeriosis. This is usually caught from moldy hay. BUT it can be a tiny bit of mold in the hay or bedding the owners would never catch. It could be from some mold growing somewhere else as well. A friend of mine had one goat get this, only one, out of her whole herd. They never did find out where it came from and these goats live cleaner than most people I know. They are very picky about the had and change bedding every other day. Even the most particular, clean, well run dairy can get it. Their chances are GREATLY reduced, though. With goats, I don't know so much about cows, they can have it and be passing it in the milk before they show symptoms, so the dairy may not have a clue at the time they sell you milk.

Lots of people drink it and do just fine. The risk is pretty small if you find a good dairy, but it is still there. I definitely wouldn't have any qualms about getting your daughter some to drink, though, even if you decide the risk isn't worth whilst pregnant. Another option, if you know the people well, would be to buy milk and freeze it for 2-3 weeks. That will not kill the listeriosis, but will give the goat (don't know about cows) time to show symptoms. Then they could let you know and you could dump the milk, if worried.

Another thing to think about is you may be a little more at risk then people who've been drinking the milk longer. Your gut is not acclimated to the milk. Your body actually gets used to the bacteria and what have you in the milk that you drink all the time. For instance, even though I drink raw milk all the time, I would be more likely to get sick with milk from my friends goats, than with mine. My innards are used to MY goats' milk. Her goats live in a different place, eat different food, etc, and so have slightly different bacteria than mine.

Sorry that was so long, , but I hope it was a little informative.

[EdnaMarie]

my midwife says its completely safe,

Nothing--NOTHING--not Dial soap, not fresh milk, not organic wool socks, is completely safe. I really distrust people that make blanket statements like that.

[Mamatoabunch]

We milk our own cow and goat and drink raw milk, have for 12 years. We have been drinking raw milk from a family farm for 3 years before having our own animals, so 15 years raw milk drinkers, never ill. My babies under a year and I do while pregnant as well as everyone else.

[Dot-to-Dot]

This is great information and really important things to consider. Thank you to everyone so far. This has been helpful!

[Smokering]

From a regularly-tested source? I'd go for it.

Unfortunately in NZ raw milk is illegal, so even if I could find another source (my last one fell through), nobody bothers testing because most of the milk ends up at the dairy and gets pasteurised anyway. So I'd be a little cagier about doing it here.

[WifeofAnt]

One thing people don't know is that pasteurization does not kill *all* bacteria. Just because its commerically processed doesn't guarantee perfect quality control. I wouldn't drink raw milk (I don't drink milk at all) but if its regularly tested and they've never had a problem then I would trust it.

[MamaFern]

Originally Posted by EdnaMarie

Nothing--NOTHING--not Dial soap, not fresh milk, not organic wool socks, is completely safe. I really distrust people that make blanket statements like that.

those are my words not hers.. i think its absurd to pick at words in this discussion..
because like you say, nothing is "completely safe"
nothing.
what i meant by that is that she agrees with me that raw milk from our source is healthy and good and not something to avoid because of a small chance that i could get sick. i have been insanely sick with pneumonia & broken ribs from coughing for the last 6 weeks and im now 40 weeks pregnant.. i really doubt i could get as sick as i was from drinking raw milk..

[EdnaMarie]

those are my words not hers.. i think its absurd to pick at words in this discussion..

Sorry, you were concerned about safety, you said "completely safe" and I don't think it's COMPLETELY safe, and I was surprised that a midwife would say that. It makes sense in a more conversational manner, sorry for the misunderstanding.

I am so sorry about your ribs!!!

[Lady Lilya]

If I could get someone around here to sell me raw milk, I wouldn't hesitate to drink it. There are risks to everything, but that's not one I worry much about. I've eaten other things you aren't supposed to while pregnant, like deli meats or raw fish.

[Kelilah]

Anything in life has risks. I personally believe that the benefits of raw (or minimally-pasteurized and non-homogenized) milk are greater than the small risk if you know and trust your dairy. Here in Oregon a couple months ago, there was an outbreak of salmonella in pasteurized, commercially-processed milk from Umpqua Dairy; it sickened several people in Oregon, Washington, and northern California, all of whom probably assumed that pasteurization and FDA "supervision" made the milk safe when it wasn't. So it's really a matter of weighing risks vs. benefits for you.

I haven't avoided raw milk or raw cheeses during this pregnancy. I do avoid commercially-processed foods (especially deli meats) on general principle, but especially while pregnant. Whole foods from safe sources, though... I eat 'em up!

[TinyFrog]

I consume raw milk and cheese. Raw dairy farms are licensed and my state requires strict standards of the farms. The farm that supplies mine is less than10 miles away, and I buy the same day it is delivered to the coop. I cannot consume pasteurized dairy. It is either raw or none. I went without dairy for a period of time but I have many other food in tolerances and adding the raw dairy in made life much more enjoyable.

[Tumble Bumbles]

We don't drink cow's milk because we can't get a reliable source for raw and I think commercial milk is incredibly nasty and unhealthy (imo). I can get non-homogenized from a local source but it's still pasteurized so we tend to just avoid it.

I think the 'risk' is so minimal if you have a quality source for raw and SO much healthier than commercially sold milk. Ugh, just the conditions of the factories in commercially sold stuff, even in 'organic' brands. Yikes.