Consuming Soy During Pregnancy

If you are pregnant, you probably want to do everything that you can to have a healthy baby. There are vitamins to take, certain foods you should eat, and other items that you should avoid. One topic that has been frequently discussed as of late is whether or not eating soy products while pregnant can harm your baby.

Vegetarians and vegans often eat soy products as substitutes for animal-derived foodstuffs. For example, soy milk instead of cow’s milk, soy cheeses rather than dairy cheeses, and tofu in lieu of meats. Therefore, this discussion can be very important for vegetarians, vegans, and even other people who choose to incorporate soy into their diets.

Soy and Birth Defects

Although there has been no definitive evidence linking soy and birth defects, a 2003 media report covered a possible connection between the two. It stated that vegetarian pregnant mothers who stuck to their meat-free diet were five times more likely to have a boy with a birth defect called hypospadias.

Soy contains phytoestrogen, which is similar to the estrogen hormone in humans. Thus, this may cause genital birth defects in boys, specifically hypospadias. Hypospadias is actually a structural problem with the penis. Interestingly, studies with animals have shown that soy compounds can create sexual problems in male rats.

However, some doctors argue that the amount of phytoestrogen in soy does not have enough of an effect on the mother’s estrogen level to cause birth defects. Already, pregnant women have hugely elevated levels of estrogen naturally, and the phytoestrogen is a negligible addition.

Contact Us

As a mother, you can be as careful and conscientious as possible in staying healthy, but bad things can still happen to your baby. An unexpected source of birth injuries can come from medical malpractice. If you or someone you know has had a baby that suffered an injury due to medical malpractice, contact the experienced Philadelphia birth injury lawyers of Lowenthal & Abrams, P.C., today by calling 215-238-1130.