Personal Care Products Can Be Harmful To Your Pregnancy

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Personal care products support your efforts to be well-groomed and presentable. You may need your mascara, foundation, lipstick, et al to appear attractive. But, when you are an expecting mom, you need to steer clear of some of these products as they can endanger not just you, but your unborn baby as well. Before you panic, read our post here and arm yourself with the right knowledge about the effects of mother’s personal care products on the newborns (1).

A recent study by the SUNY Downstate Medical Center concluded that personal care products could lead to conditions like a lower-than-normal gestational age of the baby at childbirth and other complications later.

According to Dr. Laura Geer, one of the head authors of the study, many cosmetics have commonly available chemical preservatives like butyl paraben, which can lead to “decreased birth weight of the infant and higher chances of preterm birth in babies”.

Other products that could lead to complications during childbirth include soaps, which contain a chemical called triclocarban that is also linked to shorter gestational age at birth. (2)

Lotions and creams aren’t too far from the list of potentially damaging personal care products for expectant women. Such products contain a chemical called propylparaben, which can trigger lower-than-normal body length at birth, among other complications. (3)

These studies hint at the risks of using such products during pregnancy and highlight how the chemicals in these products can disrupt and endanger not only you but also your unborn baby.

Dr. Geer highlights the need for follow-up tests to determine the validity of these claims and study the evidence further. “Based on this new evidence, the safety of use of these chemicals in our consumer products should be reassessed,” she adds.

Do you read labels before you use any lotions, soap, conditioners, or shampoos? You should consider checking them. What are your thoughts on our post? We welcome your comments below.

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