Women warned to avoid make-up and shower gel during pregnancy

Pregnant women should avoid make-up, shower gel, painting the nursery, plastic containers, and tinned food to minimise harm to their unborn child.

A new report says the best approach pregnant women should take is to assume there is a risk to their babies’ development from exposure to everyday chemicals, even when it might be minimal or eventually unfounded.

Experts from Britain’s Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recommend that pregnant women should eat fresh food whenever possible and avoid eating foods from cans or plastic containers.

They also recommend that pregnant women minimise use of personal care products, avoid paint fumes, and use of all pesticides and only take over-the-counter medicines when necessary.

The authors say they have outlined a practical approach that pregnant women could take if they were worried about the issue and wished to “play safe” in order to minimise their baby’s exposure.

Exposure to considerable levels of chemicals in pregnancy has been linked to premature birth, low birth weight, congenital defects, and pregnancy loss, as well as impairment of fertility in the mother and the child in later life.

Chair of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Scientific Advisory Committee, Scott Nelson, said concern about the effects of everyday chemical exposure was growing because many chemicals had the potential to interfere with the hormone systems in the body that play key roles in normal foetal development.

“Pregnant women are exposed to a complex mixture of hundreds of chemicals at low levels, but methods for assessing the full risk of exposure are not yet developed,” said Prof Scott.

Spokeswoman for the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Fionnuala McAuliffe said she appreciated her British counterparts were trying to highlight the need for pregnant women to be aware of environmental chemicals.

“Women should be aware of them and try and reduce them, if at all possible, in pregnancy,” she said. “It is sensible to avoid things like pesticides and the use of strong chemicals.”

Prof McAuliffe said she would not be worried about pregnant women who used sunscreen, shower gels, and make-up.

“I don’t think we want to alarm people that putting on make-up during pregnancy will cause birth defects,” she said. “There is no hard evidence in the paper that any of these chemicals that we use in every day life like shower gel and other personal care products are harmful.”

Prof McAuliffe said pregnant women should have a balanced diet that included plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables and avoid drinking alcohol and smoking.