Natural cosmetics and skincare products
Our skin is the largest organ of the body and being porous it absorbs whatever we put on it. A study in the American Journal of Public Health looked at the skin’s absorption rates of chemicals in drinking water. ²⁰ It showed that the skin absorbed more than 60% of total contaminants. (Brown et al. 1984). There are plenty of natural products on the market which use pure and organic ingredients that you can trust to use on your pregnant body. If you can, switch to a natural deodorant, as traditional deodorants contain aluminum. They also contain some other nasty ingredients that you want to avoid when pregnant, such as parabens which disrupt hormone balance. It really is quite simple to use natural products over toxic ones when there are so many natural brands available.
Environmental toxins have unfortunately become part of the world we live in. Toxic products, medications and foods are all part of clever, yet deceptive mass marketing campaigns aimed at parents from the moment we conceive and onwards throughout childhood. Thankfully, there are natural alternatives for most of these products. Commercial household products can easily be swapped for other items with safer, more natural ingredients.
Many people are becoming aware of how easy it is to avoid such harmful ingredients and are making the change to a healthier lifestyle. Toxic nappies, baby food, baby powder, nappy rash creams – the list is endless, but so is the list of conscious and ethical companies making healthy non-toxic alternatives.
What Your Skin Is Absorbing
If you are pregnant or have young children and haven’t yet made the switch, then I highly recommend beginning the gradual process of switching to natural chemical-free items. Commercial brands of makeup and skin products are often laden with chemicals and carcinogens.
These are just a few of the chemicals found in everyday beauty products:
Synthetic Formaldehyde
A volatile organic compound which is highly toxic to the liver, cancer-causing and often found in nail polish and hair products.
Aluminum
This known carcinogen and neurotoxin is widely used in commercial products and found in many items from antiperspirants to nasal spray and shampoo. Since aluminum-based compounds such as deodorants are applied to the skin near the breast there is concern that it may be absorbed and cause hormonal disruption or cancer.²¹
Parabens
Used in cosmetics and personal care products such as baby’s lotions, these synthetic preservatives have been linked to endocrine disruption and severe allergies. ²²
Synthetic Fragrance
These chemicals, known as phthalates, are found in soap, lotions, shampoo, deodorant conditioner, and perfume. They are made with petrochemical-based oils and have been linked to hormone disruption.
Since the government does not regulate personal care products, the industry can use virtually any ingredient. Research conducted by the Environmental Working Group confirmed that 22% of personal care products, including children’s products, contain the cancer-causing contaminant 1.4-dioxide (Diamanti-Kandarakis et al. 2009)²³ According to the Environmental Working Group’s skin-deep database, over 25000 personal care products were found to contain parabens.
Avoid the nasties and look for safe, natural brands. A good way to check your products is on the ‘Skin Deep’ database or ‘Think Dirty – Shop Clean App. ²⁴
Women are given the standard warnings about cat litter, ibuprofen and soft cheese, but rarely do we hear a doctor or other birth professional mention reducing exposure to environmental toxins from household products, cosmetics, medications or vaccinations. Women all over the world are missing out on this vital information because it is not considered an important issue, when in fact it is at the core of many chronic health issues facing young children today. It is only through empowering yourself with the facts and listening to your intuition that you can truly make an informed choice.
Always use your own discernment when it comes to medical procedures, and don’t give in to bullying tactics – It's your body and your baby, and no one else has the authority to make those choices for you!
PRENATAL ULTRASOUNDS
"I believe it's time for women to connect to their intuition and demand more respect. It's time to shake things up, to ask questions, to find answers."
- Debra Pascali-Bonaro
For many mothers the common practice of routine prenatal ultrasounds is never even questioned. Ultrasounds have become so normalized in pregnancy that mothers rarely question the safety or necessity of them. In our modern world of convenience, where interventions are expected, most parents don't take the time to consider the alternatives.
During my pregnancies I decided early on that there was no need for me to have any ultrasounds. This might sound shocking to some people, but to me it was a conscious and informed choice. I was in good health, a low-risk mother and felt there was no need to subject my unborn child to something I felt offered little benefit, and that could have possible risks.
Mothers are often labeled as ‘irresponsible’ or ‘negligent’ for choosing to have a natural pregnancy. Ultrasounds are one of the many routine medical procedures that cannot be questioned or challenged in any way. When we look at all the research there are a lot of questions that need to be asked about why ultrasounds are recommended for ALL women.
What is an Ultrasound?
The term refers to the ultra-high frequency sound-waves used for diagnostic scanning. Ultrasound waves are emitted by a transducer, and a picture of the underlying tissues is built from the patterns which return. Ordinary scans use pulses of ultrasound that last only a fraction of a second. In contrast Doppler techniques, which are used in fetal monitors, use continuous waves, giving much higher levels of exposure than 'pulsed' ultrasound.
Why are Ultrasounds Used?
There are two main purposes for using ultrasounds in pregnancy – to investigate a possible problem at some stage of the pregnancy, or routine scans. With bleeding early in pregnancy, ultrasound may predict whether miscarriage is likely to occur. Later in pregnancy it can be used when a baby isn’t growing or in the case of suspected breech. Whilst the above cases are useful for gaining important information, the use of routine prenatal ultrasound has become the standard of care, even amongst healthy women.
The Real Risks
