Can you eat fish when you’re pregnant?

Smoked fish – including smoked salmon – is considered safe to eat in pregnancy³, but limit servings of oily fish to two portions per week².

Yes, cod is a white fish and safe to eat when you’re pregnant. Other white fish like haddock, monkfish and plaice, as well as cooked shellfish are all safe to eat as part of a healthy pregnancy diet³.

As long as it has been frozen first, the NHS recommends that it’s usually fine to eat raw or lightly cooked fish when you’re pregnant³. If you’re in any doubt, you may want to opt for sushi made with cooked fish or vegetarian varieties instead³.

Tuna contains more mercury than other types of fish, so it’s recommended that you limit your intake to no more than two tuna steaks (about 140g cooked or 170g raw each)² or four medium-sized cans of tuna per week (about 140g when drained)². As tuna isn’t an oily fish, your weekly intake of tuna can be on top of your maximum oily fish intake of two portions per week.

Yes, but anchovies are an oily fish so just be sure to limit your intake to two portions per week³.

Yes, but not too often. Seabass can contain similar levels of certain pollutants as oily fish, so it should be included within your maximum intake of two portions per week².

Yes, but as it’s an oily fish, remember to limit intake to two portions per week³.

1. European Union. Commission Regulation (EU) No 440/2011 of 6 May 2011 on the authorisation and refusal of authorisation of certain health claims made on foods and referring to children’s development and health. OJ L 119 2011;4-9.
2. NHS. Should pregnant and breastfeeding women avoid some types of fish? [Online]. 2018. Available at: www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/should-pregnant-and-breastfeeding-women-avoid-some-types-of-fish.aspx?CategoryID=54&#close [Accessed February 2020]
3. NHS. Foods to avoid in pregnancy [Online]. 2017. Available at: www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/foods-to-avoid-pregnant/#fish-and-shellfish [Accessed February 2020]