Scared about retinol cream use

[Theveryhungrybutterfly]

Hi everyone. I'm looking for some reassurance as I'm freaking myself out.

I'm 10 weeks pregnant and all the way through I have been using small amounts of a 1% retinol cream on my face (www.paulaschoice.co.uk/clinical-1-retinol-treatment.html). I have only used a pea size amount each time and I've probably only used it once every few days on my acne. But some of those time will have been on broken skin which will make it absorb more.

I've just found out that I shouldn't be using this in pregnancy because it can cause birth defects. I honestly don't know how I didn't realise this before, I've been so careful about everything else

Information on the internet varies widely between saying the topical creams probably won't cause harm although you shouldn't use them, to doctors saying it can cause serious defects especially to the face and limbs. I think I'm also worrying because at my scan this week we saw baby's face and I thought it looked a bit strange. But I don't know if that's normal at 10 weeks or if it was the angle of the ultrasound.

Anyway, safe to say I am driving myself mad with worry that I have harmed the baby. Has anyone else ever used these creams by mistake and had a baby that was unaffected? Xxx

I imagine baby's face will definitely look a bit weird at ten weeks!

I did a bit of research on this too when I was pregnant (I wasn't using a cream at the time but wanted to check whether I could). I got the impression that the evidence didn't suggest it would cause defects but medical professionals like to err on the side of caution.

Have you spoken to your dr about it yet?

MrsCrabTree my baby looked really scary at ten weeks! I thought she looked so ugly! She's looked much cuter at 12/20 weeks! I wouldn't worry about it for now. Just see what your doctor says :-)

Thanks for your responses xx

Hi,

I’m new to this website and just saw your comment, did everything work out ok? I’m panicking as I have been using an eye cream which I didn’t realise had retinol in it. I’m 10 weeks pregnant.

Please don't worry, the reason why they say not to use retinol in pregnancy is because your hormones change your skin so your reaction to retinol could become more sensitive.

You'd have to use a really high dose to cause any harm to baby and 1% is very low. Talk to your midwife about it if you're worried but I'm sure baby is absolutely fine xxx

@Theveryhungrybutterfly was all okay with this? In the same position!!

@Jacko10 have asked Mumsnet to delete my last post as is inaccurate. Have done some reading. There have been a few case studies where topical (skin applied) retinol has been used and a baby has had birth defects BUT 1) the background risk of birth defects is 3-5% (the risk without any other impacts during pregnancy) and 2) in the case studies it's not clear that topical retinoids were the cause. Most of the guidance against retinol use has been based on the evidence for harm caused by ingesting vitamin A/retinoid medication. So it is very unlikely that this has caused any harm, particularly as most topical retinoids are low dose, and they get used a lot across the world now. Check in with your midwife but I do not think they will be at all worried x

I asked my ob gyn this exact question ten years ago! I was reading about what not to eat and came across the retinol effect. He told me not to worry because it wasn’t a prescription amount. I was using a Clinique cream. I was very lucky to have him for my scans as he is a published academic on fetal medicine and was head of a large NHS hospital for obstetrics so I totally trust him. Women on roaccutane which can cause birth defects have to agree to also be on birth control if they are of child bearing age.