Essential oils

[CoteDAzur]

Does anyone know why we are supposed to avoid them during pregnancy?

Shameless bump.

All I want is a bit of Vicks under my nose so I can breathe. Strange lady at pharmacy said it would be 'toxic'. Surely nothing that drastic?

Because like all medicines if they are actually effective they may have harmful side effects.
I know some of them can bring on labour, but can't remeber which ones.

I'm not going to eat any, just smell. Surely not 'toxic'?

I am 36 weeks, btw.

i suffered with sinus trouble when I got terrible cold, my pharmacist said I could use olbas oil, which worked a treat on a hanky,

regards
Sue 25 wks pg

It's lavender which is one of them iirc. Brings down blood pressure? Although I really don't think you need to worry too much about it

Vicks? Missed that bit earlier. Surely not... Is there anything on the label?

Ocalyptus oil in Vicks. Surely not 'toxic'? I used some in the end last night.

How can smelling some lavender bring down blood pressure??? I'm inclined to think this is all hokum.

I will check out olbas oil if I can figure out what it would be called in French.

cote, i'm having the same problem. I thought that lavender oil was ok after the first trimester - it is in some of my pg bubble baths so i occasionally use a few drops in the bath - i'm 23 weeks.
there are some that can stimulate the uterus i believe- clary sage is one i think but i have used olbas oil too, vicks probably isnt much different.

so many bubble baths and shampoos etc have essential oils in them, its hard to avoid everything.

Oh I totally think the whole lot of it is hokum. I also think homeopathy is hokum. But I refrain from saying so in case I am run out of Mumsnet by a "The Simpsons"-style torch-wielding mob...

Homeopathy is definitely hokum.

This essential oils thing seems to have proponents among pharmacists which got me thinking for a bit. One refused to give me Vicks drops for throat and another said inhaling Vicks would be 'toxic'. What is that about?

I'm finding it hard to believe that the smell of what is basically some flowers and plants will have terrible effects on baby, since if any of it gets into blood stream through nose, it certainly can't be more than a few molecules. I'd really like to know if there is any scientific basis to the essential oils scare during pregnancy.

Guide lines for use of Eucalyptus hope this helps CoteDAzur

Also a lot of essential oils are used in massage and baths which can also have harmful side effects if used wrongly.

Lavender oil in high doses said to be avoided in pregnancy. We have body products (body oil and bathing oil) in our shop which contain about 15% lavender oil, and it's not recommended to pregnant ladies. I guess it's quite high % and it would be applied directly to skin (body oil), so I wouldn't use it. But nice lavender candles or occasional bubble bath should be fine..

Is there any scientific basis for any of this, though. I've been searching and couldn't find any research that says lavender oil etc is harmful to the fetus, inhaled or pasted on skin.

I can't imagine lavender oil applied to skin going directly into the blood stream, by the way. Surely it would be lethal.