Avoiding peanuts during pregnancy

Many women appear to have been unnecessarily avoiding peanuts during pregnancy, a study from a research centre specialising in allergies has found.

The research by Dr Tara Dean at The David Hide Asthma and Allergy Research Centre suggests that many women without a family history of atopy have been giving up peanuts during pregnancy and breast-feeding.

Yet Department of Health guidelines issued in 1998 advised only women with a family history of atopy, which is manifested in asthma, eczema or hay fever, to avoid the nuts.

As many as 65 per cent of all mothers have avoided peanuts during pregnancy, despite the fact that only a small proportion are at risk of sensitising their babies, the research found.

Moreover, there did not seem to be a link between the children whose mothers had avoided peanuts during pregnancy and those who later developed a peanut allergy.

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