Pregnancy No-No’s

Pregnancy No Nos When I was expecting my first child, threats to my baby’s health seemed to lurk everywhere. I knew, of course, that alcohol, cigarettes, and drugs of any kind were off-limits. But what about those lattes I’d chugged before I knew I was pregnant? Did I need to get rid of my beloved cats? What sort of environmental hazards was I unwittingly exposing my fetus to? Nine months of caffeine withdrawal, cat avoidance, and breath-holding-around-noxious-odors later, my strapping baby boy arrived.

Unlike me, you don’t have to be paranoid when you’re pregnant. “You can’t put yourself in a glass bottle during pregnancy—all you can do is avoid known risks,” says Dr. Robert Resnik, a professor of reproductive medicine at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. Since some women, such as those with high blood pressure or gestational diabetes, need to take extra precautions, talk to your doctor about special circumstances that relate to you. Also steer clear of the following:

Too Much Caffeine
For java junkies like me, the research on caffeine during pregnancy has been maddeningly contradictory. Some studies point to problems such as miscarriage and low birth weight, while others show no such relationship. The latest consensus is that only excessive amounts of caffeine (more than 300 milligrams a day) are likely to cause these problems, says Dr. Kathleen Bradley, a maternal-fetal medicine specialist and assistant clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the UCLA School of Medicine. The caffeine content of different brews varies, but you should be able to stay under the 300-milligram mark by limiting your daily quaffing to one or two 5-ounce cups of coffee or tea or a few 12-ounce cans of soda. (Since even non-colas can pack quite a caffeine punch, check the label before you imbibe.) And while chocolate does contain caffeine, it typically has much less—1 to 35 milligrams per one ounce—than coffee.

Cat Litter
Cat feces may play host to a parasite that causes toxoplasmosis. The symptoms (fever, fatigue, and sore throat) are similar to those of a garden-variety flu, but the results (miscarriage, preterm labor, or serious health problems in the newborn) can be devastating. Even so, having a baby on board doesn’t mean you need to send your puss packing, says Marion McCartney, a certified nurse-midwife and the director of professional services at the American College of Nurse-Midwives in Washington, D.C. It simply means you should put your mate on litter-box duty for the nine-month duration. It’s also a good idea to wash your hands after heavy petting sessions with the cat and after handling raw meat. Don’t feed yourself or the cat undercooked meat (which can harbor the parasite). Wear gloves when you’re gardening and avoid children’s sandboxes. (Roaming cats may use these as litter boxes.)

Certain Foods
Beware, foodies: Uncooked, soft cheeses (such as feta, Camembert, Brie, and blue-veined varieties), unpasteurized milk and the foods made from it, and raw or undercooked meats, fish, and poultry may contain listeria bacteria. During pregnancy, listeriosis (symptoms include fever, chills, diarrhea, and nausea) can cause miscarriage, preterm labor, or stillbirth. Some seafood may also contain high levels of mercury, PCBs, and other toxins. If these foods are consumed during pregnancy, the baby is put at risk for developmental delays. (Your local health department may be able to tell you which fish to avoid.) Experts recommend that expecting mothers limit their servings of shark and swordfish—which contain higher levels of mercury than other fish—to one three-ounce serving a month. Finally, lab tests have linked heavy consumption of saccharine to cancer. Though you’re not likely to swill enough of the artificial sweetener to equal several times your body weight, you may still want to forgo those little pink packets for now. Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal) appears to be a safe sugar substitute.

Herbal Remedies
You know that many prescription drugs are off-limits during pregnancy, but the natural remedies you can pick up at health-food stores are okay, aren’t they? Guess again: Herbal remedies can have a potent effect on your body—and your baby’s—cautions McCartney. Don’t take anything without running it by your health-care provider first. She’ll most likely tell you not to use any during your first trimester. Throughout your pregnancy, steer clear of goldenseal, mugwort, and pennyroyal, all of which have been associated with uterine contractions (which could possibly lead to miscarriage or preterm labor); Asian ginseng (which interferes with metabolism); and feverfew (though popular for migraine headaches, it has unpredictable effects on pregnant women). It’s also wise to avoid herbal teas that purport to have medicinal benefits.

Home Hazards
If you haven’t been gripped by that famous pregnancy cleaning-and-nesting frenzy, chances are you will be soon. Safety tips for those 3 a.m. floor-scrubbing and nursery-decorating sessions: Read labels carefully. Wear gloves and work in well-ventilated areas. And avoid aerosols (which disperse more chemicals into the air than pump bottles do), oven cleaners, paint fumes, solvents, and furniture strippers. Although frequent, heavy exposure to chemicals in the workplace (home workshops count, too) has been linked to birth defects, Bradley explains, home use of most products is more likely to make you feel faint or nauseous—not a great proposition when you’re nine months pregnant and perched high on a ladder or wedged behind the toilet.

Overheating
Soaking in the hot tub or relaxing in a sauna may seem like the perfect way to pamper your pregnant body, but raising your core temperature—especially during the first trimester—may boost the odds of birth defects. It’s safe to soak in a lukewarm bath, though. Just make sure that the temperature is not above 100 degrees and that you get out after about ten minutes, Resnik advises. Sustained exercise in very hot, humid weather can also raise your core temperature. When you do exercise, be sure to drink liquids before, during, and after, and if you find that you’re heating up, take a five- or ten-minute breather.

Lead
Lead exposure has been linked to miscarriage, preterm labor, low birth weight, and mental and behavioral problems in children. Residue from the toxic metal can lurk in places you might not suspect: houses built before 1978 (the year lead paint was banned), tap water, even calcium supplements. A few precautions will reduce the amount of lead you come into contact with: Call in a lead-abatement specialist if you live in an older home with chipping or peeling paint. (Whatever you do, don’t try to sand or scrape it off yourself.) Filtering your water may help, or have your tap water tested. (Call the Environmental Protection Agency’s Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 800-426-4791 for a testing lab in your area.) Finally, if you take a calcium supplement, ask your doctor to recommend one that’s low in lead, such as Tums 500 Calcium Supplement.

Oral Sex
Don’t worry, you needn’t swear off oral gratification entirely. (After all, when you hit that physically awkward last trimester, there may not be much else you can do between the sheets.) But when he’s pleasuring you, your mate should be careful not to blow air into your vagina, if that’s something that’s part of his, uh, repertoire. Why? Your blood vessels are dilated during pregnancy, and, though the chances of this happening are very rare, a fatal air bubble could potentially enter your bloodstream, McCartney explains.

Certain Over-the-Counter Drugs
Your back is aching, your heart is burning, and your stomach is roiling—do you have to forgo all pharmaceutical relief? Not necessarily, says Bradley. But since even benign-seeming remedies, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and certain cold preparations, can cause problems for your baby, don’t pop any pill without your doctor’s approval. If one medication is off-limits, she can suggest an alternative. Acetaminophen (Tylenol), for instance, is fine.

Secondhand Smoke
You may have given up cigarettes, but if your mate’s still puffing away, your baby’s getting hefty doses of the 43 cancer-causing chemicals in cigarette smoke. In fact, exposure to secondhand smoke during pregnancy raises the risk of low birth weight, sudden infant death syndrome, and other health problems. So ask your partner to quit or to cut down—if not for his own health, then for yours and your baby’s. And tell anyone who lights up around you to kindly take it outside.

Stress
Every time you look down, your growing belly reminds you of just how much your life will change once your baby is born. Exciting, yes. Stressful? You bet. Even so, try to take it easy. Stress causes the release of hormones that reduce blood flow to the placenta and triggers contractions, and it has been linked to miscarriage, preterm birth, and low birth weight, Bradley explains. If you hold a high-pressure job, do what you can to scale back. If you’re feeling the heat in your personal life, practice relaxation techniques, surround yourself with supportive people, and seek counseling if need be.

Vitamin A
As is the case with its chemical relative Accutane (a prescription acne drug), high doses of vitamin A during pregnancy can cause heart and facial defects, says Resnik. How much is too much? Some studies have indicated that problems can occur when pregnant women take more than 10,000 international units (IU) a day, while others list 25,000 IUs and even 50,000 IUs as the threshold. You get a fair amount of vitamin A from the food you eat, and though the dose in your prenatal vitamin should be fine, your doctor can tell you whether it’s an excessive amount.

Tags: , alcohol, caffeine, cheese, Health & Safety, herbs, hot dogs, lead, litter, lunch meat, medicines, no's, oral sex, overheating, Pregnancy, smoke, stress, uncooked food, vitamin A
Posted in: Pregnancy

30 Responses to “Pregnancy No-No’s”

On June 23rd, 2008 at 1:02 am
zanobia says...
i just realized that i might be prego and ive been on some body ossin carnival rides, what should i do if i am?? im expecting my period on the 26th
On July 2nd, 2008 at 2:30 pm
Anne says...
Lovely, succinct and very useful
On July 27th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
Laura says...
I rode roller coasters at six flags and I rode them while I was pregnant with my daughter, and she’s great. I don’t know if it’s being jerked around that’s the threat or just the fact that the safety precautions in place don’t always fit correctly or may place strain on the pregnant belly. I will have to research this much more. Of course I also grew up going to this amusement park every single summer. I don’t know if that makes a difference as far as what my body is used to.
On August 21st, 2008 at 7:28 am
Gemini says...
I was playing roller derby for a few weeks before I found out I was pregnant…and took quite a few hard spills! I’m 27 weeks along now and baby looks as healthy as can be! I’m sure you’re fine
On September 25th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Susie says...
Does anybody know if fluoxitine is bad durring pregnancy?

My doctor prescribed Prozac for me, but my insurance only covers the generic kind.

If anybody knows, it’ll help me out a bunch. Thanks!
On September 26th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
Summer says...
I am just curious when should i start to feel my baby kick? Also if i am stressed a lot what are some tips to help with the stress? I am a first time mommy to be and just afraid that something bad is going to happen does anyone else feel this way?
On September 30th, 2008 at 1:12 pm
Lindsey says...
Be sure to read up on Aspartame before thinking it’s a ‘’safe” sweetener to use during pregnancy, or at anytime for that matter. It is in all diet sodas, as well as Crystal Light type drinks. PLEASE read up on it though before you consume it!!! It is quite dangerous!
On September 30th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Lindsey says...
Summer,
I JUST started feeling my baby kick. I’m just over the 19 week mark…it can sometimes take up to 22 weeks. I wasn’t sure if that is what I was feeling at first…it felt like a muscle twitch to the left of my belly button. Now I recognize it off and on…and I have to remind myself that it’s the baby I’m feeling! I’m getting used to it though!
On October 27th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Ashlee says...
Summer,
I am a first time mom also. I was told that it usually takes longer for a first time mother to feel or regconize her babies movements, Altough for me i found that wasnt true i first felt my daughter move at 16 weeks.
On December 5th, 2008 at 4:28 pm
laura says...
HI i just found out that i am 12 weeks in a half pregnant but i work in a dry clean and i would like to know if that is bad for my baby ‘ do i have to change my job?
On December 24th, 2008 at 3:51 am
JJ says...
I just found out that I was pregnant.. I’m in my 5 week but for the last 4 weeks off and on I have detoxing with first cleanse.. Does anyone no if this might have done damages already…
On January 7th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Dawn says...
For any mothers on anti depressants Paxil, Prozac or anything similar…PLEASE research and ask your Dr and anyone else you may trust. I was on Paxil with 2 children having absolutely NO idea that there was any danger! I subsequently miscarried both babies. I carried one dead for 2 weeks. I later found out that there are lawsuits involving miscarriages and Paxil. Please don’t just assume since one Dr. says it’s safe that it is. I have 2 babies in heavan because I didn’t investigate further. I am now 16 weeks pregnant (NOT on any medications) and the baby is great! Don’t be hard on yourself hormones make us turn into those evil creatures we only accused other women of being…of course they weren’t prego…LOL Good Luck and God Bless to all mommies to be!
On January 7th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Dawn says...
JJ… If I were you I would call the company itself. The package should have a company phone number on it. They know their product best and would be able to give you the quickest initial answer. From there you could ask any pharmacist. Walgreens is usually great about actually giving answers other than, “Ask you Dr.”
On January 8th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Lori says...
I was on Paxil for just over a month when I found out I was pregnant, and looked it up online. I was shocked to see some of the side affects associated with the pills. Heart defects was one of them.
On January 14th, 2009 at 2:36 am
diksha says...
hi.am 12 weeks pregnant..feeling great..but scared abt delievery part..i feel sometimes am suffering from stress..i get cramps on my lower stomach area..any solution?
On January 19th, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Beth says...
Don’t stress about the delivery… everything will be fine. It’s rough, but would compare to really bad period cramps. Im expecting my 2nd child. The cramps you are having, are they like twinges in the very bottom of your stomach, like almost right at your hip bone? I get those too, and did with my 1st. don’t think its anything to worry about, just those muscles stretching. but if it get too painful, ask your doctor..that’s what they are there for!
On March 13th, 2009 at 4:54 pm
Kristine says...
I just found out that I’ve been pregnant for the last ten weeks, not experiencing flu symptoms! But I’m a little worried, this will be my first and I don’t know what to expect. I’ve got these cramping sensations in my abdomenal area, actually closer to my pelvis. Is this something I should be concerned about?
On March 26th, 2009 at 9:55 am
Tiffany says...
I am 24 weeks pregnant my babys father left me, my house burned down,my grandmother just passed away and I am extremely stressed my md put me on celexa but I am scared to take it does any one have any comments or suggestions for this medication or stress relieving remedies or medications that are safe any feedback is greatly apprieciated!
On March 30th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Michelle says...
Tiffany:

If your babys father left you at 24 weeks, then you need to look on the bright side and realize this would be harder if he left after the baby… You should not be on any medications while pregnant!! Try to relax by meditating.. Go on google.ca and look up some great relaxation teqniques… youll soon find them helping.

Hope this helps, really!
On March 30th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Adrianna says...
I am 6 weeks pregnant and am worried i will miscarry the baby.Does anyone have any advice?
On April 5th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Sybyl says...
I have heard that only prozac is the only safe anti depressant during pregnancy. I was on Lexapro(same maker as Celexa) before I got pregnant and stopped taking it. I am currently 28 weeks along with my 2nd.
On April 5th, 2009 at 5:39 pm
Leslie says...
I felt that same way when I first found out I was pregnant.. I am now 35 weeks and still worry that something will happen. The best thing to do is relax. Let nature take it’s course and just eat healthy. I found that just doing the pregnancy work outs helped a lot and made me feel better about my body and the baby’s health. But talk to your doctor first before doing the work outs.
On April 15th, 2009 at 10:38 am
Jackie says...
I just found out I am pregnant and am about 6 weeks, is there some vitamin besides prenatal vitamins I should start taking? Eating?
On April 24th, 2009 at 5:10 pm
Zanaya says...
hi i just found out im pregnant and am currently takeing iron pills because of my aniemia. is there risks with iron and if so should i stop takeing it. but also if i stop will the lack of iron carrying oxygen affect the baby?? if you know plese let me know.
On April 27th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
shelley says...
i also am aniemic and am on iron pills they might down them so that u are taking less. Apparently there are risks when taking iron while carrying child , but its more important that u are well while being pregnant !!!
best wishes
On May 8th, 2009 at 8:39 am
Jenny says...
I read a comment about someone asking about vitamins. I haven’t been able to take prenatal vitamins my whole pregnancy. Now 19 weeks. They make me gage and throw up. My doctor told me to take flintstones chewables plus iron. They have them with Iron already in them. I take two a day and it has everything I need. You should always ask your doctor but i feel great!
On May 19th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
Carolynn says...
hey all,
i am 10 weeks pregnant with my second. i lost my first about a year ago to heart failure. i was almost 7 months pregnant. the father has heart failure in his family. i’ve moved on and i believe it was for a good reason. i am stressed out trying to do everything at once i go to school in the mornings then work then home to study for school for the next day. i have no time to talk to my fiance…does anyone have any advice for me to just relax along with everything else?? please help i’m scared i will lose this one with all the stress on my plate!

god bless
On June 11th, 2009 at 1:35 pm
Carrin says...
Hey guys so Im not supossed to get my period til june 20th which is still 10 days away and my fiancee and I have been trying for months to conceive, but today Ive started bleeding a bit kinda pinkish does anyone think this could be implantation bleeding or just my period real early?
On June 27th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Raychel says...
Carolynn,

I lost my 4 month old daughter to SIDS, had an eptopic pregnancy a couple of months later and then a miscarriage a few months after that. I am currently 7 weeks pregnant and not stressed because I know that God has a plan and purpose. I have absolute faith and trust in Him that his plan will benefit me and my husband.

Don’t stress about the things you can not control. Put your trust and faith in God and relax knowing what a loving Father we have.