Information about products labeled as "pregnancy safe"

[sparkles0913]

Hi parents and parents to be!

As skincare is becoming deeply ingrained in our everyday lives I see more and more posts and questions on product pages regarding safety during pregnancy/ nursing. I have had 2 children and wanted to offer some insight and words of caution about this topic. 

For starters the term "pregnancy safe" (or safe for nursing) has no concrete definition. These are ambiguous terms which are widely open to interpretation based on individual opinions and comfort levels. Brands love to boast that certain products are pregnancy safe however, I beg of you, please do not take that statement at face value.

A little history on ingredients and safety in a very watered down way (if you're a scientist please don't laugh, I am a social worker just doing my best haha): Skincare ingredients are typically divided into 3 categories, let's call them "A", "B", and "C". Products in category A are things we know are safe to use while pregnant as well as things that are assumed to be safe in pregnancy based on the chemistry of the ingredient, how it behaves, association to other products in category A, etc.

Products in Category C are things we know are NOT safe to use during pregnancy and those assumed unsafe based of the chemistry of the ingredient, how it behaves, association to other products in category C, etc.. These ingredients have been linked to adverse effects on the developing fetus.

Category B is where things get tricky as it is comprised of products where we don't have evidence either way so they cannot be deemed safe or unsafe- we simply don't know. The large majority of ingredients in this category will remain there as studies to prove/ disprove their safety would be highly unethical and illegal. This category is where a lot of personal opinions and comfort levels come to play. This category is also where brands love to use their own interpretations of "pregnancy safe". I like to use Drunk Elephant as an example; I was extremely conservative with what I put on my skin during both my pregnancies, only using ingredients from category A, and was of course drawn to Drunk Elephants claims of everything in their line being pregnancy safe sans maybe 1-3 products. However, upon further research I discovered a large amount of Drunk Elephants products have ingredients that fall into that category B and did not meet my personal safety criteria nor that of my OB. Because of the grey area that is Category B, brands can confidently market their products as pregnancy safe, however with category B ingredients we just don't know. 

By no means am I one to advise someone on what is pregnancy safe as our definitions and our pregnancies are not the same however, I want to beg that everyone consult with their OB/midwife/provider on what is safe to use during pregnancy. Please don't take the statements from brands, in store reps, sale associates, people on the internet, etc at face value. If you ever have questions on what is/ is not safe to use during pregnancy please, please, please consult your OB/ midwife/ provider. The safety of your baby is not something you want to mess around with nor put in the hands of companies whose sole purpose is to sell you products (at any cost). 

Everyday I see parents to be asking strangers on the internet what is safe for them to use in pregnancy so if this post helps just one person I consider it a success. 

Also to reinforce, I am not an expert and will not advise on what is safe/ unsafe to use during your pregnancy (after all, I am also a stranger on the internet) as that is something to discuss with your medical provider. The purpose of this post is to raise awareness and provide some super basic info to serve as a conversation starter. 

Stay safe and remember you are doing an amazing job! 

[SportyGirly125]

@sparkles0913 As a Mom of 2 I never trusted brands on what they said was pregnancy safe and tried to do my own research on what to use.  At the end of the day you should trust your own judgement as well as your OB on what to use.

I see it brought up on here so often on what is safe to use and I would never recommend porducts to people and tell them to talk to their OB.