Healthy Family
Mamas on Bedrest: The Truth About Chemical Ingredients During Pregnancy
April 13th, 2012
I love it when other bloggers create well written blogs about really pertinent information. So it is with The Truth about Chemical Ingredients During Pregnancy. Aremisa May-Hailey, a doula, peer breastfeeding counselor and herbalist. In her post on Examiner.com, Aremisa gives great information about the effects certain chemicals found in cosmetics can have on your unborn baby. Citing information regarding Kourteny Kardashian having her hair dyed while pregnant, Aremisa provides the following information about potentially harmful chemicals for unborn babies.
Parabens
Parabens which are commonly used as a preservative in skin care products, have been linked to having adverse affects on the reproductive systems of baby boys. Although this research is fairly new, parabens should be avoided.
Phythalates
Phythalates, also listed as DBP (diputyl phathalates), is an ingredient used in nail polish. Absorption in the mother’s blood stream has been linked to genital changes in baby boys.
Toulenes
Toulenes is another ingredient used in nail polish. The constant inhalation of these fumes is believed to cause developmental damage to the fetus.
Lead
In 2007, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics tested 33 popular brands of lipstick. Out of those tested, 61% of them contained unsafe levels of lead. The issue here is that lead exposure can crosses the placenta very easily and can interfere with fetal development.
Retonoids
Retonoids is a form of Vitamin A commonly used in acne treatments and wrinkle creams. High doses of Vitamin A are known to be harmful to the fetus.
Hair Dyes
The Organization for Teratology Information Specialist (OTIS) reports that low levels of hair dye can be absorbed through the skin after application. It is also known that the dye is excreted through the urine. Therefore, there is no significant danger that has been proven as of yet.
Aremisa’s post contained many of the same chemicals we mentioned in our post where we relayed the recommendations and warnings from the American Academy of Pediatrics on chemicals and their effects of pregnant women, unborn babies, infants and children. Many chemicals, though not ingested orally are in fact absorbed through the skin, our largest organ. Once in a mama’s system, the chemicals have access to the unborn baby via the placenta. While the placenta acts as a filter for many substances such as nutrients, blood, oxygen and fluids, many other particles (chemicals) are able to penetrate the protective barrier. For some chemicals, such as those found in cosmetics and personal products, the amount of the chemicals in the products may be small, but because the products are used repeatedly (sometimes 2 and 3 times daily) the effective exposure can become significant. So as Aremisa, the American Academy of pediatrics and others have pointed out, mamas need to be aware of the ingredients in their personal products, avoid those products that have the harmful chemicals listed and use care when using products so as not to produce a cumulative effect.
For more information on pregnancy and chemicals visit otispregnancy.org and or safecosmetics.org
Aremisa May-Hailey, Dallas Pregnancy Health Examiner
Aremisa May-Hailey is a full circle doula (ICTC), breastfeeding peer counselor, and acting state rep for International Center for Traditional Childbearing. She also owns and operates Indigenous Doula Services as well as Indigenous Remedies, which is a resource for herbal and holistic sciences….
Mamas on Bedrest: How Do You Talk With Your Children About Difficult Topics?
March 23rd, 2012How do you talk with your children about difficult topics?
In light of the shooting death of 17 year old Trayvon Martin, I have been thinking A LOT about how to talk with my kids about touchy subjects. At 9 and 6 years old, I don’t want to overwhelm them, yet I want to inform and educate them. Certain topics are easy. For example, a couple of months ago we had a really in depth discussion about where babies come from and how they get into their mommy’s tummies which lead us into a talk about sex. I was amazed at how much my children already knew and understood! But what I found is that the calmer I remained and the more directly I answered their questions, the better things went.
I asked a therapist friend of mine, Katie Malinski, MSW, LCSW how best to approach sensitive topics with your children and she had the following tips to offer:
1. The best way to address sensitive topics is directly. Don’t try to avoid the issues. Kids are smart and will know something is wrong. If you feel ill equipped to discuss the topic alone, enlist the aid of a good family therapist to help you and your children understand the situation.
2. Your children are going to take their cues from you. If you overreact or act as if the issue is a really big deal (even if it is!!) then your children will have a similar reaction. If you can approach the topic calmly, then your children will gather, from you, that the situation is not catastrophic and that you (the parents) have everything under control.
I am going to add, or actually reiterate my point about being direct and not overwhelming your children with information. When my son asked me about babies, it stemmed from the fact that 3 of his classmate’s moms were pregnant. His class was all abuzz about when the babies would come out and how life would change for his friends. When he said that the babies would be “cut out” (I have told my children that I had c-section deliveries) I had to explain to him that that is not the way most that babies come into the world. I then explained that babies come through a hole below where mama’s go pee.
“Oh the bahina!” he pipes up.
I nearly crashed as I was driving and began laughing. I told him that the correct name is vagina and yes, that is where babies come out.
“Do you have one?” He asked.
“Yes”.
“Does Sissy?”
“Yes”
“So can Sissy have a baby?”
(Sweating) “Not yet, she has to become a grown up first and get married.”
I didn’t bother with the whole menstrual cycle issue, how young girls can get pregnant or the pregnancy outside of wedlock issues because he didn’t ask about them. He wanted to know about mommies and I was fine keeping the conversation there for the time being.
Of course the conversation turned to, “How do babies get into mommies’ tummies?”
(Sweating again) “When mommies and daddies love each other very much, they often decide to make a baby. Sperm from the daddy joins with an egg from the mommy and a baby is made and grows in the mommy’s tummy.”
“So how does the sperm get into the mommy?” my son asks.
“When mommy and daddy decide to make a baby, the daddy puts his penis in the mommy’s vagina and puts the sperm inside the mommy to meet the egg and make the baby.”
There was quite a long pause and I thought that I was done. I was quite proud of myself for getting that far and not totally confusing my children. Finally my son pipes up,
“So daddies go pee pee in mommies?”
After I busted out laughing, I explained that while sperm comes through the same area, it’s not that daddies go pee pee in mommies, it’s a different mechanism. With that we arrived at our lunch destination and the topic has been shelved ever since.
I share this story with you so that you can see, and I can remind myself, answer the questions our children ask of us. As we all know, there was so much not said in this conversation. But my son was asking about mommies and daddies and rather than complicate the issue with menstrual cycles, teen pregnancy, sex without creating babies, sex outside of marriage, etc…I answered his questions and we both moved on.
The day will come when I have to fully explain racism to my children and I hope to be able to take the same calm approach. I doubt we’ll have the funny anecdotes we had as we discussed how babies get into mommies’ tummies, but I am hoping and praying that as we delve into this topic, and yes we have already had a few discussions about skin color and why our hair is different from our classmates hair, etc… I will be able to remain calm, answer their questions honestly and rationally and also educate them in a way that doesn’t scare them or further confuse them.
Mamas on Bedrest: Updated Vaccine Schedules and What You Need to Know
February 6th, 2012
Whether or not to vaccinate their children is a heated issue for many parents. Many parents struggle because they don’t have adequate information with which to make their decisions. Board certified pediatricians typically recommend that all children be vaccinated. Some naturopaths and alternative practitioners advise against vaccinating infants but may advise vaccination of older children. Some practitioners discourage parents from vaccinating their children at all, citing that vaccinations cause autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders (this citation is still controversial and we here at Mamas on Bedrest & Beyond have yet to find definitive evidence that vaccinations cause autism or any other diseases in children. If you have references, we would be happy to post them for mamas to help them make informed decisions) . How can parents know what is best?
We here at Mamas on Bedrest & Beyond are not here to tell you how to care for your children or yourself. Whether or not to take vaccinations should be a decision based on the latest information available. So here are links to the latest recommendations from the The links are divided into schedules for 0-6 years and 7-18 years.
Regardless of your opinions on vaccinations, we encourage you to at least read through the information, then speak with your health care providers, ask questions and then make your decisions. Good Luck!!
