Burning Incense whilst pregnant?

[Awomancalledhorse]

I was raised by hippies so have an overwhelming urge to burn incense. Man.

Dr.Google doesn't give a clear answer, could anyone tell if it's ok/ a no-no?
My incense stick of choice will be Sandelwood or Ylang Ylang, if that makes a difference?

Peace

I too have hippy heritage but was told not to heat essential oils in a oil burner til at least 12 weeks by my MW and then to be very selective with the oil after then. Am not sure if there is much essential oil in your average joss stick, but if there was you'd probably want to avoid the same no-no oils... most of which I can't remember but which are pretty googleable.

I didn't even think about not burning them when I was pregnant.

Blimey, I've been burning sandal wood, blue lotus and yellow rose on a daily basis throughout pregnancy! Ddidn't even consider it! Mind you had 20 week scan last week and bubba seems fine. He did seem quite chilled out now you mention it... :)

I think it depends on the intensity of exposure.

Small joss stick in the corner every now and then: unlikely to be an issue.

Heavy fug of intense smoke that completely fills the room with smoke= probably more on a par with smoking ie best avoided.

The high intensity sort of smoke is more likely if you use the high residue incences like charcoal discs with solid incences on top (smudge mix, gum mixes, herbal powder incence. The big brands like Star Child go on about how they are "all natural ingredients" compared to little cheap joss sticks from the hippy shop, but unless used very sparingly they seem to make more smoke.

So up to you and your desired smoke experience! Personally I like the charcoal disc stuff better, but tended to use it with a window open and just now and then rather than all the time.

Cheers Poppet, will google which essential oils & use that as a guide.
aethelfleda I have a few of the charcoal disc & mini cone ones, they burn for a lot less than my sticks, so will probably stick to them throughout pregnancy?

Thank you everyone for replies!!

Wow, chill out man and all the hippy stuff. I think you are overanalysing tbh. If you like it, go for it. Just don't stick it up your nose and 'smoke' it

potpourri - it all depends on your type of incence. Some are pretty tame but the more intense kinds can be compared with an inner city pub pre-smoking ban on match day, with severe clouds of (lovely-smelling) fug that can stop you seeing across the room!
I think the OP's being very sensible especially as some incense mixes can contain herbs that are potentially bad for baby (like pennyroyal, rue nutmeg and tansy), though in incense form I wouldn't have thought the doses would be a health risk. more importantly, very high doses of smoke in the air are probably not great for junior in the same way that passive smoking isn't great either.

True aethelfelda. The same would apply to anyway, with child or not.