By Al Romeo, RN, PhD, MotherToBaby Utah If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you might wonder if it is safe for you to go to the nail salon. After all, there are chemicals in nail treatments, and (let’s face it) nail salons often smell like they could be toxic! But are they? What’s in nail treatments? And could they be harmful if I’m pregnant or nursing? Common nail products include nail polish and types of acrylic nails including gels, liquids, and powders. There are a few ingredients that …
The Baby Blog
About Our Baby Blog
Every person wants to know what’s best for their baby, especially when it comes to knowing how to minimize exposure risks. Our relatable stories are packed with practical information from our rotating staff of MotherToBaby expert bloggers. Whatever topic you’re looking for, our blogs will provide you a great foundation to learn more.
FDA Pregnancy Risk Categories: Going Away for Good
By Lynn Martinez and Julia Robertson, CPM During the more than 40 years MotherToBaby affiliates have been serving the public with education regarding exposures during pregnancy, many women have called who are very distressed, sometimes in tears, about finding out they were pregnant while taking a drug categorized as an X or D in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) system. “I’ve been on birth control pills and I still got pregnant! Does this mean my baby will have birth defects? It’s a …
A Mother’s Day Memo: ‘Excited To Be A Mom, But Please Excuse Me If I Hurl’
By Lynn Martinez, Teratogen Information Specialist, MotherToBaby Utah “O.K., so I can’t look at pizza the same way. Saltine crackers seem to be my go-to snack for sustenance and don’t even SAY the word ‘curry!’ Oh no, I said it… Please excuse me while I hurl,” said Nicole, 34, who’s pregnant with her second child. For many of the moms I counseled as a teratogen information specialist with the international non-profit, MotherToBaby, this is part of the reality of becoming a mom – nausea and …
When Bats Come Calling, Rabies Scare
Rachel called us the morning she woke up and found a bat hanging out in her closet. As far as she could tell, she had not been bitten. She was 10 weeks pregnant and wondered what her next steps should be. Her husband also did not detect any bites. He kindly relocated the bat to the outside of their home, but now they were both exposed to potential rabies infection. She was about to leave for work, and her husband had already left for a busy day at the office.Rachel had been down this …
Feeling the Burn: Extreme Heat in Pregnancy
Arizona is HOT, especially in the summer. I knew this when I moved to Tucson almost a decade ago. Since then, I have had two pregnancies while living in Arizona. I was lucky not to have to spend the last weeks of pregnancy and first weeks with my newborn in the summer heat.Of course, Arizona is not the only place experiencing hot weather. 2023 was the planet’s warmest year on record, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Temperature records have already been broken in …
