Essential oil in pregnancy- freaking out

[lilspark]

Mums I'm distraught :( my daughter has a cold and so I set up a Vicks steam inhaler for her- the one with Vicks vapopods. I had bought it in a rush and was such a busy day I quickly set it up for her and tested it by taking two deep nasal inhalations (I'm 15 weeks pregnant). I was aware Vicks vaporub is safe in pregnancy so I stupidly did not question this. It was only after when I had a bit of time I read the ingredients to discover it has cedar leaf oil in it which is apparently a huge no no in pregnancy as it's neurotoxic and can cause abortion. I'm mortified at what I've just done - please can you share your thoughts on this

Isn’t it dangerous because it can cause contractions?
it sounds like you used it last night and have been fine since?
i don’t think you need to worry

Can you call the pharmacist and talk to them ?

Im sure you are fine as they are not that powerful, if they were all the overdue women would be inhaling them!

OP can you contact your midwife to put your mind at rest? Im sure you will be absolutely fine try not to panic. I’m sure we’ve all done things when pregnant that have made us worry like this. I accidentally ate raw chicken at 12 weeks and it was all fine!

Sorry ladies I meant to say it's dangerous because it can cause neurotoxicity and abortion - and I only inhaled it 2 hours ago :(

Completely understand your worries but if it was a ‘natural’ way to cause abortion I think it would be widely used and to my knowledge it isn’t. I also imagine more prolonged exposure would be needed.

I also don’t think it’s likely neurotoxicity would happen that quickly. Think how often we briefly breathe chemicals and smells that might be harmful, and short exposure doesn’t seem to create lasting effects.

OP if anything had a proven link to abortion / miscarriage it would be well known. Follow NHS advice only and don’t Google.

@lilspark please try not to worry. If it was that potent it would have been taken off the shelves or have a huge warning sign saying "do not use during pregnancy". Think how many cosmetics etc have this warning - if Vicks doesn't then it's really okay. I think essential oils are mainly dangerous in this situation if you ingest them in a significant quantity.

Thank you so much ladies, my rational side tells me not to worry but you know how the irrational side is! I've also come to learn that there is cedarleaf oil in vaporub too (and that is marketed as safe in pregnancy?) so now I'm confused!

It could that be if ingested then can cause abortion etc, but a few sniffs of it I think would be fine!

Yes exactly, and if it actually worked nobody would need to procure a medical abortion, everybody would just inhale cedar oil.
It'll be fine OP

Just think if all it took was a couple wiffs of an essential oil to bring upon a miscarriage, sadly women would know this in the past and even now. I'm sorry you're feeling anxious but try to put it behind you.

You will be okay, I second what everyone else has said. Would be way more common knowledge if it was commonly causing miscarriages.
I painted some doors with oil based paint in my second trimester. Did a post on here similar to yours absolutely shitting myself but people gave similar advice to me - and baby was fine x

Thank you lovely ladies, you guys are amazing, I'm feeling a lot better now :)