Pregnancy Beauty Treatments - Are Soap and Shampoo Safe During Pregnancy?

Nothing feels better than a long, warm shower after a long day being pregnant. Women rarely check soap and shampoo ingredient labels because they are not consuming the products. The scalp and skin absorb chemicals found in soaps and shampoos, most importantly known and potential carcinogens.

Two sodium based ingredients found on the back of soap or shampoo bottle may be sodium laurel sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate. These sodiums can be difficult to tell apart, but pregnant women need only remember "laureth". Sodium laureth sulfate is a potential carcinogen. OSHA and the American Cancer Society claim the ingredient is safe. The Environmental Protection Agency, however, lists the ingredient 1,4-dioxane as a "probable" human carcinogen. Some products containing sodium laureth sulfate also contain 1,4-dioxane.

The Food and Drug Administration knows soaps and shampoos contain sodium laureth sulfate and 1,4-dioxane. While they claim to be monitoring 1,4-dioxane levels, the FDA has not banned the ingredient or forced manufacturers to remove the ingredient from human products. Instead, they suggest manufacturers remove 1,4-dioxane and leave it at that. The Organic Consumers Association completed testing for 1,4-dioxane, in 2008, with alarming results. Children's shampoo, raw cosmetic materials, and finished cosmetic products all tested positive for 1,4-dioxane.

Pregnant women need to stay away from soaps and shampoos containing sodium laureth sulfate as the product could also contain 1,4-dioxane. Natural products are available with organic, safe ingredients perfect for use during pregnancy. The general rule of thumb is - "If you can't pronounce it, don't use it!"

When choosing soap and shampoo products during pregnancy, it is also important to watch out for oxybenzone. This ingredient is commonly used to increase absorption of ingredients into the skin and is known to cause cell damage and potentially birth defects in male infants.

Beauty care is an important part of feeling beautiful during pregnancy, but the brass facts are that some products contain ingredients that could be harmful to the mother and fetus, including those used in soap and shampoo.

Preventing Health Risks During Pregnancy

Women would die in the name of beauty. Across all ages, races and nationalities, women like to look good and be appreciated. Women need to feel beautiful and sexy to earn the appreciation that they need.

Most women in their last trimester of pregnancy find it hard to believe that they are beautiful and sexy. Having a baby inside their womb makes them feel ugly, heavy and simply unattractive.

The feelings of unattractiveness and ugliness are relative to a pregnant woman. However, the heaviness of weight gain is a fact. All women who become pregnant, no matter how skinny they are prior to pregnancy, will gain weight with a baby inside their womb.

The fact is simple: a pregnant woman is carrying another human being, alive and breathing inside her womb. That fact is enough to justify the gained weight while pregnant.

The average weight that is gained during pregnancy is around 12 to 36 pounds. However, women who are overweight prior to pregnancy are asked by their doctors not to exceed their gained weight by more than 25 pounds maximum. This is in order to prevent certain diseases from developing during pregnancy like diabetes and heart diseases. These diseases not only put the mother at risk. They also affect the baby in the womb.

So how exactly can a pregnant woman prevent health risks during pregnancy? There are two keys: proper diet and exercise.

Proper diet during pregnancy would mean a diet in which the baby is taken into consideration. The mother should not go on crash diets and other diet programs that are unsupervised by their doctors.

Pregnancy Weight Gain - Beautiful!

You find out that you are going to be a new mom in 9 months. You are so excited and are looking forward to enjoying every minute of your pregnancy. The thought of waiting patiently, then finally getting to hold your little bundle of joy fills your heart with happiness. Nothing can interrupt this wonderful feeling. Then it hits you like a ton of bricks...pregnancy weight gain.

Gaining weight during pregnancy is something most women fear. Having a "baby bump" is not the issue, it is the extra weight that is gained throughout the whole 9 months. Why has this fear become so prevalent within our society? Only two little words are needed to answer this question, the media.

The media has portrayed women as having to be extremely thin, even during pregnancy. There is such a craze about weight loss and women seem to feel they never measure up to society's standards. The fear of becoming obese during (and after) delivery has plagued the minds of women nationwide.

The problem with this is that not only will weight loss, especially via fad and crash diets, will have a negative effect on the woman but on the unborn baby as well. Everything a mother eats, drinks, or ingests will have either a positive or devastatingly and potentially fatal effect on the baby. Going on a diet or strictly regulating food intake to insure minimum weight gain can cause the unborn baby to have numerous health issues such as: malformation, thickening of arterial walls, brain damage, premature birth, hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, be more susceptible to autoimmune diseases, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosis, and may other health issues in utero and after birth.

The mom-to-be will also suffer health issues by losing weight during pregnancy.

To avoid any problems with you or your unborn baby, eat healthy foods and limit the amount of empty or high calorie foods that contain a lot of sugar or salt. It is equally important to stay away from alcohol, smoking, caffeinated drinks, and drugs. If you go out to eat choose healthy foods. If you are not sure what foods are better for you ask for a nutritional guide.

Despite the old wives tale that you are "eating for two", you are actually providing necessary nutrients "for two". You only need 100 to 300 calories more than a normal healthy diet for someone your age/weight. You should also have healthy and nutrient rich snacks on hand. It is recommended to eat 5 to 6 small meals a day. This will prevent overeating and, for most, prevents or lessens heartburn during pregnancy.