Pregnant hairdressers at risk?

[Flower11111]

Hello I wanted to ask if there are any pregnant hairdressers worried about fumes from bleaching foiling / mixing colours. And standing for long periods at a time? I have read we are slightly higher risk of preterm birth but I had an incident recently where the fumes from my bleach foils took my breath away even with the mask on and I'm concerned that even with the mask on mixing up colours and taking foils out I'm breathing in quite a bit of fumes. Also have breaks throughout the day but it's the same old you run into breaks being so busy and am concerned I shouldn't be standing for as long as I am has anyone decided to take their maternity early or cut down their days?

Hi just wanted to say fellow hairdresser here 🙋🏼‍♀️ I run my own business so finishing early doesn’t really seem like an option, I’m currently only open 6 hours a day but all us hairdressers are extremely busy atm with being closed for 4 months and I’m finding it extremely hard to find a minute to sit down let alone have a break (using my cutting stool at every opportunity 😂) I haven’t really found a problem with colour/bleach mixing but I’ve got the salon well ventilated all day, maybe wear two masks if this is an option? Or is there any juniors in the salon you could get to mix up for u and do the wash offs? I’m really hoping that once I get through the backlog of clients things start to go back to a more normal pace although im 20 weeks next week so I might need to slow down abit before I want to, but yeah being self employed I plan on working right up until baby is here , hope you can find a way to cope a little easier 😊 xx

Hi OP, I’m not a hairdresser so can’t advise on that side but I’m a waitress so on my feet all day for shifts that are between 6-8 hours long. On a busy day I sit down once for about 15 mins. Other than feeling quite tired by the end of the day, and occasionally a sore back, I feel good. I’m 31 weeks I think as long as you listen to your body and know when you need to rest, you’re fine. It’ll be different for everyone. I just make sure I stay hydrated and eat little and often to stay energised.

I'm a nurse not a hairdresser but similar to you I'm on my feet for most of the day, we work 13 hour shifts but only 3 days a week. I think it depends on how you feel, I have loads of energy now in the 2nd trimester and I like running around keeping busy so its not a problem for me. If you feel like its really affecting you then that's different and you could maybe consider asking your GP to sign you out on sick leave? Have you got far left to go?

As regards the bleach and fumes, you could wear an FFP2 or FFP3 mask at work? They can be tough going in comparison to other masks and I hate wearing them but its not optional in my hospital. You could even switch to them just when mixing colours maybe?