paint fumes in pregnancy

[Mandymoo]

Hi - i'm 33 weeks pregnant and have just had house extension finished - there has been lots of painting and now im worried about having breathed in all the fumes (although these days i believe the fumes arent as bad as they used to be) - should i be concerned or am i being over anxoius?

Given the nesting instinct I reckon there are very few women who don't breathe in some sort of fume from paint or cleaning products by the end of their pregnancy. You'll be fine, don't worry.

mandymoo, dont worry, like beansprout says, most women are in contact with fumes at some point of there pg, but i do know how you feel, we had workers here and they were using a machine that needed petrol...the petrol fumes came right into the house, i was so so worried cos i breathed it in for most of the morning....i even tried to hide under the sheets to avoid the fumes...

but i found out later that unless your excessively breathing it in day in day out it should be okay.

hope you feel less anxious

Hi, when I was expecting dd, we decided to decorate the living room, and dh did most of the papering and structural stuff, laying new laminate flooring etc. But I did the painting including the gloss work. I didn't know about the risk of voc's in paint, and this was in the first 3 months of preg too! But rest assured, dd was and is fine. So unless as others have said you intned to paint for hours everyday I think you should be fine, hth

I feel so stupid - I have been painting most of the weekend and am only 5 weeks pregnant - now I just feel so scared. What an idiot - I would never drink or smoke while pregnant so what on earth am I thinking. I need a hug and to be told it'll be ok but I haven't told anyone yet and I don't want to worry my husband. I have been reading a few books on pregnancy but nothing has mentioned paint at all. Perhaps they just assume that people won't be that stupid?

Devon, don't worry honey. It will be fine - one bout of painting ain't gonna hurt. Do it while you have the energy, I say - I'm 25 weeks and am struggling a bit with decorating now, but still at it (though not up ladders anymore!) but have made sure I am using low-VOC emulsion - DH is doing any more chemically stuff and the high painting. Make sure the room is ventilated and don't stick your head in the tin.
'What to expect when you're expecting' says painting is nothing to worry about, but it's probably a good idea to get someone else to do it because of the physical strain as much as the fumes. And avoid paint removers/strippers/varnish entirely as they have more nasties in than emulsion.
Pinchy xxx

Aw Pinchy, thanks so much - I got myself in a right state worrying about it all yesterday, and was imagining all the worse possible outcomes! But I had a checkup this morning anyway and the doctor was so lovely, and just said exactly what you said. I think I will let hubby do it now tho, and I will direct him! It is a shame as we have just moved into a house that needs every room decorated, but once I have told everyone I am sure we will have a few volunteers to help out.

Thanks again, feeling much more positive now xxx Good luck with your pregnancy xxx