Pregnancy-safe body butter

[DietCokeGirrrrrl]

Hi all,

My SIL is pregnant (will be my first niece/nephew) and she's finding her pregnancy quite hard for various reasons (terrible morning sickness, dizziness, back problems, dry skin, etc). She recently mentioned to me in passing that loads of her usual bath / body products aren't safe for foetuses, and I wanted to make her some luxurious body butter to cheer her up. Can anyone tell me if the following ingredients are pregnancy safe?

Coconut oil
Shea butter
Pure mineral oil
Blackberry and bay essential oil

All of the above are raw, organic ingredients.

Thanks for your help! I found google a bit baffling on this so thought I would turn to the collective experience of MN!

Not safe for foetuses?

Not suitable for foetuses? What does she use?? Never heard of anything not been suitable xx

I think you have to be careful about essential/aromatherapy oils in pregnancy but lotions/moisturisers are generally ok.

As long as you aren't adding a ton of retinol then it will be fine. Clary sage essential oil is also to be avoided but as it smells bloody awful I doubt you'd consider it anyway!

They'll all be safe, why on earth wouldn't they be?

I used Child Farm stuff when I was pregnant. No nasties. If its good enough for newborns it was good enough for me.

I’ve never heard of standard body butters or cosmetics not being safe to use

Your SIL sounds confused. There are very few bath and body products pregnant women need to avoid unless she's using pure essential oils but it doesn't sound like this is the case.

Just buy her something nice off the counter if you want to get her something but its very likely she already has a tonne of stuff suitable anyway.

Thanks everyone!

'Not safe for foetuses' was maybe an odd choice of words, sorry! I just meant that lots of bath / cosmetic products contain ingredients that you're supposed to avoid during pregnancy (like retinoids / hydroxy acids etc) and so I wanted to make something totally risk-free. I know I could buy her something off the shelf but I like to make soap and bath products anyway so I thought this would be nice for her

Thanks for your help! Sounds like that list is fine which is good because I have it all in stock anyway!

ingredients that you're supposed to avoid during pregnancy (like retinoids / hydroxy acids etc)

Well, op. This is news to me!

Other than quite strong anti-ageing creams (and even then the risk is largely theoretical; your skin really isn't very permeable) nothing you could be putting on your skin is a risk to a foetus. She does understand that you don't eat these products, right?

If you really want to make her something, the ingredients you've posted sound fine, but so will be anything you can pick up on a shelf in Tesco.

Yes, Queen Aravis, she does understand that not sure the snark was totally necessary in response to a reasonable and good-faith question.

My SIL is following advice from her midwife who was very clear that while there isn't a huge risk, she might want to avoid certain products containing potentially harmful ingredients. Perhaps my SIL is being hyper cautious because it's a first pregnancy and hasn't been an easy one so far (if there is such a thing) but she mentioned it to me and since I already like to make bath products, I thought I'd do a nice thing. I don't have kids myself so don't have any experience of what isn't and isn't safe, which is why I asked. Thanks to those who gave advice, I have been reassured

I'm not picking specifically on your SIL, but I'm very surprised to hear a midwife issuing that advice, because it's over-caution to the point of being a little absurd. A lot of FTMs end up tying themselves in knots of anxiety over every little thing on the basis of purely theoretical or entirely non-existent risks, and I don't think that's at all healthy (for them - it doesn't bother the baby). So I do think it's healthy to mock the silliness of some of these "risks" from time to time. Honestly, a pregnant woman could be pouring pure hydrochloric acid on her skin, and she'd get horrible chemical burns, but it would still have essentially no way of getting to or damaging the baby.

Its certainly a nice gesture of you to make something for her though and I'm sure she'll appreciate it.

I'm not picking specifically on your SIL, but I'm very surprised to hear a midwife issuing that advice, because it's over-caution to the point of being a little absurd

Me too! I'm gobsmacked a midwife has even mentioned it as it's just not the kind of thing they talk about, they don't even tell you what food you can and can't eat let alone that you can't use certain products on your skin apparently.

Sounds more like too many Google searches and then saying a midwife has said it and I wouldn't want to play up to unnecessary worries.

I know you're not meant to use essential oils but I've never been sure if this means neat or in products.

Ridiculous.

I'm not sure on the merits or otherwise if your sisters concerns but if she is genuinely worried for whatever reason then I'd say you'd be better buying her something nice (and safe) rather than making her something with essential oils in as if there's concern at all then I think essential oils are probably the problem.

I was told that vitamin A should not be taken during pregnancy. She is not incorrect in being sage I guess. Safest would be pure oils I guess. Hormones can also drive the skin crazy and I think it's a lovely idea to think of simple pure skin care as a gift

Sage is safe*

I try and avoid the chemical products even when not pregnant, and @DietCokeGirrrrrl I think your present idea sounds like a lovely idea. Some companies, like Neals Yard / Burts Bees / cowshed/ mama mia make some really nice toiletries specifically for pregnant women so maybe have a look at some of the ingredients for inspiration. From what I remember there are lots of shea/ almond / coconut type oils in them

Johnston's do a mum to be kit that's nice.

Stuff to avoid is huge amounts of pure essential oils and vitamin A.

Apart from that- enjoy

Body shop olive oil hydrating body butter has been a god save for me!

Quite a lot of everyday commercial toiletries, even some which are marketed for use in pregnancy, contain endocrine disruptors - maybe that's what she means? If you do decide to buy something, that could be worth checking for to save her any worry.

I’m slathering coconut oil on myself, I’m pretty sure it’s safe.

Queen some people prefer to avoid unnecessary chemicals in general, and especially when pregnant. For me my body is telling me to avoid them. I can’t bear the smell of any perfumes, cleaning products, shower gels. Anything with a synthetic smell. I’ve really thought about the cleaning products I use in general after reading that they may damage your lungs similarly to smoking! There’s a lot of extra crap that goes into cosmetics too. I’m not going to lose sleep over it and I wouldn’t suggest anyone does but there’s nothing wrong with being a bit more conscious. You weigh up risks that matter to you. I think it’s ridiculous that they still tell you to avoid certain cheeses in pregnancy because of listeria, when the last big outbreaks have been in butter, salad and fruit.