Pregnant women warned of listeria risk

PREGNANT with her third child, Amelia Liddy-Sudbury was extra careful with her diet, never eating raw fish or soft cheese. But she didn’t think twice when she bought some pre-cut rockmelon.

“I bought it, cut up and I think that was the source,” the 35-year-old Sydney mum said.

Thirty-three weeks into her pregnancy, Mrs Liddy-Sudbury picked up a listeria infection – one that could have killed her and her baby.

A fortnight later baby Theodore was delivered five weeks premature and would need weeks of intravenous antibiotics to stem meningitis.

“It is a deadset miracle he is alive. Once you are diagnosed with listeriosis that’s usually it, the baby is dead,” Mrs Liddy-Sudbury said.

Listeriosis, caused by the food-borne listeria bacteria, kills one out of every five unborn babies it infects.

Two weeks ago another pregnant mother tragically lost her baby to listeriosis.

The woman arrived at hospital with abdominal pain, headache and mild fever. Her baby was delivered by caesarean section but was stillborn as a result of the infection.

Including Mrs Liddy-Sudbury, it was the third pregnancyrelated case this year in NSW, three times the usual rate.

NSW Health director Dr Vicky Sheppeard said the three cases represented a concerning spike.

Listeria bacteria is found in a variety of foods including cold meats, cold cooked chicken, raw fish, soft-serve ice cream, soft cheeses and unpasteurised milk.

Most pregnant women know to avoid these foods, but the bacteria is also found in pre-cut fruit and pre-bagged salads.

“Those products are becoming more common and anything that has been cut and left is a risk. You have to wash and peel fruit and salad yourself if pregnant,” Dr Sheppeard said.