If you are pregnant with your partner, but he is allergic to eg walnuts (if he eats one, he will have a seizure and needs an adrenaline shot), is it dangerous to eat walnuts during your pregnancy? If not, if you eat walnuts, is the chance that your baby will become allergic to walnuts much smaller? And if you can’t eat one, why not?
Answer
Hi Lily,
To react allergically you need an immune system that is sufficiently developed to be able to react allergically. This is not yet the case with an unborn child. So there is no risk that an unborn child would be in danger by reacting allergically itself. In your example, the pregnant woman can safely eat walnuts, but it will also not help to reduce the risk of allergy in the baby.
Answered by
Prof. dr. Dr Koenraad Smets
newborns.
http://www.ugent.be
.