Safe products for pregnant women

My DH and I are trying to conceive. I have been using an astringent on my face made by Neutrogena that contains salicylic acid. Do any of you know if this is safe for women who are pregnant? It doesn't say on the bottle that pregnant women should not use the product, but I'm still concerned.

I usually have a few breakouts caused by hormone changes during my monthly cycle, so I would like to still use an astringent or cleanser to prevents breakouts. I have heard both that salicylic acid is safe and also unsafe. I had an appt. with my gynecologist on Friday and forgot to ask him about this.

Do any of you know what facial cleansers are safe to use during pregnancy? Thanks!

Erica

[DCJenn]

Erica- I would be more concerned about what you put IN your body as opposed to what you put ON your body.

Jenn

PS- All of my "over 30 getting wrinkles while still breaking out" friends and family have had no problems conceiving while using glycolic acid or salicylic acid. My one completely paranoid friend stopped using a bath scrub that contained minute amounts of St. John's Wort- once she found out she was pregnant. (Which was OK with me because it's awesome stuff and I got it all!!!) Along the same vein, they used to tell you not to die orperm your hair either, but many of the new formulaitons are much, much milder than they wee even five years ago. and really, who wantsto be hugely pregnant with roots that are five inches long!!!

Check with you docs though and maybe Sally's husband will have some insight.

[PrincessFiona]

That's an interesting question since aspirin is to be avoided during pregnancy...especially the latter part of pregnancy. The question in my mind would be whether or not any of the salicylic acid could be absorbed and therefore cause any types of defects...

This is what I came up with:

Salicylic Acid (Sal Ac)

Salicylic acid is used to treat acne, warts and other dermatological problems. There are no studies specifically looking at topical salicylic acid in pregnancy. Oral salicylic acid (aspirin) has not been associated with an increase in malformations if used during the first trimester, but use in late in pregnancy has been associated with bleeding, especially intracranial bleeding (Rumack et al., 1981). The risks of aspirin late in pregnancy are probably not relevant for a topical exposure to salicylic acid, even late in the pregnancy, because of its low systemic levels. Topical salicylic acid is common in many over-the-counter dermatological agents, and the lack of adverse reports suggests a low teratogenic potential.

however

Pregnancy—This medicine may be absorbed through the mother's skin. Salicylic acid has not been studied in pregnant women. However, studies in animals have shown that salicylic acid causes birth defects when given orally in doses about 6 times the highest dose recommended for topical use in humans. Before using this medicine, make sure your doctor knows if you are pregnant or if you may become pregnant, especially if you will be using salicylic acid on large areas of your body.

[mommax3]

I checked with my husband and he said that he would not be worried about the use of salicylic acid for someone trying to conceive.......however, if you have concerns it is always better to go with your gut. As far as hair coloring/perming, he tells people to avoid it the first trimester. (The smell would have kept me from doing it even if it was perfectly safe.....I didn't want to be puking while I was "processing"!)

HOWEVER, by the time I delivered, I always had fresh highlights!

Good luck to you and have fun trying.

Sally

Thanks everyone for the great info! And, Sally, thanks for checking with your expert husband! I have read so many different things on salicylic acid that I didn't really know what to believe. Most of what I read said that it "should" be safe for pregnancy, but I just wasn't sure what to think. I guess I scanned through too many of my husband's med school embryology books that I am just paranoid about all of the things that can go wrong during pregnancy.

Sally, I also read the same thing about hair dyes...to wait till you are out of the 1st trimester. Well, I guess I'll have 5 inch roots, but at least I'll have good skin!!

Thanks again for being so helpful.

Erica

[houseelf]

Erica,

Please take this post with a grain of salt because my experience on this topic has jaded me a little bit and otherwise rational thoughts are tinged with emotion. You will find a ton of information out there about what to avoid: don't die your hair, don't run, don't eat any vegetables but organic, avoid cafeine, blah, blah, blah.

Before I give you my theory, I do believe that overall good general health is important, for both preggos and nonpreggos. Furthermore, I don't want this advice to be construed like I'm advocating that you hard line cocaine or anything. However, I firmly believe when it comes to pregnancy, whatever is going to be is going to be.

Some women go through chemotherapy and have perfectly healthy babies and other women live with saint like purity and have heart wrenching problems. (Don't go to the pregnancy loss or pregnancy problem websites...they are not for the faint of heart.)

In my case, I had no idea that I was preggos the with my son until the second trimester, during which time I continued to run a considerable amount, drink beer, drink pots of coffee, die my hair, eat sushi, use acne cream which included salycic acid, and take various over the counter drugs including some herbal supplements. That pregnancy resulted in my now four year old son-- he is absolutely fine.

Conversely, my second pregnancy was carefully planned with months of folic acid supplements, waiting an appropriate amount of time to get the pill out of my system, reducing running as soon as I found out I was pregnant and I miscarried at 11 weeks.

I don't tell you this to scare you or minimize the mountains of good advice out there, but I would just take everything you read with a grain of salt.

I wish you the best of luck and...uh...have fun trying! There is something very sexy about TTC sex. It is so hard to wait when you decide that you want a baby.

Kelly