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Natural Parenting & Lifestyle
Prevent Miscarriage: Avoid These Daily Use Items
Miscarriages are heartbreaking. Planned or not planned pregnancy, you still experience a loss. Expecting a baby changes how you look at everything, so when you lose a baby, your whole world seems to fall apart. I personally experienced two early miscarriages often referred to as a “chemical pregnancies” or “not sticky pregnancies.” It’s so hard. I had everything I thought my future would be ripped away from me twice.
Because of these losses, I dove into research trying to make sense of my loss. I stumbled upon some research that I had never heard of and started learning about what in our environments can cause miscarriages.
“About 1/3 to 1/2 of all pregnancies end in miscarriage before a woman misses a menstrual period or even knows she is pregnant. About 10 to 20% of women who know they are pregnant will miscarry.”
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9688-miscarriage
Please note this information is in no way intended to shame anyone. We can only know what we’ve been made aware of and do our best with that information. My hope for this article is that it helps future mamas avoid the heart ache of a miscarriage. Be aware everyone deals with loss differently and my way of coping with the emotions is research.
Causes of Miscarriages/Infertility
The medical field is quick to blame women for their infertility using terms like “incompetent cervix” and “hormonal abnormalities,” but fail to note why we may be experiencing these things. I call BS. WOMEN ARE NOT AT FAULT FOR MISCARRIAGES OR INFERTILITY. The toxic environment and products we are being pushed to use are the cause.
“In 2011, University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) researcher Tracey Woodruff and colleagues reported finding traces of dozens of harmful chemicals in 99 percent or more of the 268 pregnant women whose urine they analyzed; among them were organochlorine pesticides, perchlorate, phthalates and cancer-causing compounds found in vehicle exhaust and smoke.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/environmental-toxins-are-seen-as-posing-risks-during-pregnancy/2018/08/03/770fab98-7643-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html
It’s important to understand how genetics, illness, and our environment all interact to affect how we function. The key to the interactions is epigenetics. Once we are conceived, our genes are set in place. However, our genes can be turned on or off at any point in our life (or in utero). Epigenetics is how our genes are expressed and gene expression can be altered by our environment. You can have no hormonal imbalances or family history of infertility but then be exposed to certain chemicals that will cause infertility (whether a result of epigenetics or toxic abortion).
Epigenetics is the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself.
Toxic abortion is a medical phenomenon of spontaneous abortion, miscarriage, or stillbirth caused by toxins in the environment of the mother during pregnancy, especially as caused by toxic environmental pollutants.
Chlorinated Water
A pregnant woman with a water bottle in hand is supposed to be a picture of health. We believe we’re doing right by our babies by staying hydrated, yet we are not being told of the risks that come with the treated water and water bottles.
“Drinking five or more glasses of cold tap water per day could increase the risk of miscarriage to women in their first trimester, according to a large-scale study of chlorinated drinking water by California state researchers.”
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-feb-10-mn-17476-story.html
Chlorine is linked to a number of health issues such as cancer, asthma, and skin damage, yet it is used to treat water. Chlorine is a toxin in the body and can cause toxic abortion.
Makeup and Other Beauty Products
“Leading up to and during pregnancy, women are told to avoid alcohol and cigarettes, to make sure they get enough folate and omega-3 fatty acids, and to get adequate sleep and exercise. Most are told little or nothing about reducing their exposure to chemicals despite evidence suggesting that ingredients in plastics, vehicle exhaust and cosmetics additives can have profound impacts on babies’ health.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/environmental-toxins-are-seen-as-posing-risks-during-pregnancy/2018/08/03/770fab98-7643-11e8-9780-b1dd6a09b549_story.html
“Although most chemicals in cosmetics pose little or no risk, some have been linked to serious health problems, including cancer, reproductive and neurological harm, and developmental delays. Cosmetic chemicals enter the body through the skin, inhalation, ingestion and internal use, and pose the same risks as food chemicals.[18] In addition to the risks posed by intentionally added ingredients, cosmetics can be contaminated with heavy metals, including arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and nickel.”
Top Toxic Beauty Ingredients:
- Formaldehyde (Including Paraformaldehyde, Methylene Glycol, Quaternium 15)
- “Exposure to formaldehyde has been linked to higher risk of congenital anomalies, low birth weight, and premature birth. Higher miscarriage rate has also been reported in several previous studies performed in various groups of women.” (See here).
- Mercury
- “Studies have shown that heavy metals like lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd), and mercury (Hg) have toxic effects on reproductive outcome and are also associated with miscarriages.” (See Here)
- Phthalates
- “Women with the highest concentrations of a type of phthalate called di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, or DEHP, were 60% more likely to lose a pregnancy prior to 20 weeks than those with the lowest concentrations, the study found.” (See here).
- “researchers found that those with the greatest urinary concentrations of monoethyl phthalate (MEP)—a type of phthalate commonly found in personal care products such as fragrances and cosmetics—had twice the risk of excessive weight gain during pregnancy than those with the lowest concentrations. Those with the highest mid-pregnancy MEP concentrations also had a seven-fold higher odds of impaired glucose tolerance (higher-than-normal blood glucose levels) in mid-pregnancy than women with the lowest concentrations” (See here).
- Parabens
- While I have not located research directly linking parabens to miscarriage (because no studies have been conducted), research has clarified parabens are absorbed through the skin and passed to the baby and have negative effect on mom and baby. One study found parabens would alter a child’s epigenetics (aka the turning on or off of certain genes) to be less satiated after a meal.
- “positive correlation between the concentrations of butylparaben in the mothers’ urine and a higher body-mass index of their children — particularly of the daughters — until their eighth birthday.” (See here).
- PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl)
- “The study estimated a nearly 80% to 120% increased risk for miscarriage in women with the highest level of two common PFAS compounds, compared with those in the cohort with the lowest PFAS levels.” (See here).
- M- and O-phenylenediamine (in hair dye)
- A known carcinogen (cancer causing) shown to absorb through the scalp. While studies are very limited, hair dye is associated with increased risk of miscarriage.
- “Hair stylists, who’ve spent many years being in daily contact with hair dye chemicals, do appear to have a slightly higher risk of having a miscarriage. This is thought to be due to regular contact with chemicals in dyes called teratogens, which can cause birth defects and increase the risk of miscarriage.” (See here).
Plastic (BPA and Phthalates)
“Researchers concluded that women who had high levels of BPA in their blood were at significantly increased risk of miscarriage compared to women with the lowest levels.”
https://www.cnn.com/2013/10/15/health/bpa-miscarriage-phthalates-fertility/index.html
Unless plastics or metal note that they are BPA free, you can assume they contain BPA.
See above for the research on phthalates.
How To Avoid These Toxins
Chlorinated Water
Berkey filter
BerkeyFiltersUSAI talk to mamas all the time who are having trouble getting pregnant and recommend the berkey! We tried for over a year to get pregnant with our second and within two months of switching to drinking berkey only filtered water I got pregnant and brought our second child earth side nine months later!
The Black Berkey Filter’s performance can be summarized as follows:
Viruses: >99.999% Exceeds Purification Standard (Log 4): MS2 Coliphage Fr Coliphage
Pathogenic Bacteria Surrogate: >99.9999% Exceeds purification standards (Log 6): Raoutella terrigen
trihalomethanes: Removed to >99.8% (Below Lab Detectable Limits): Bromodichloromethane Bromoform Chloroform Dibromochloromethan
Inorganic Minerals: Removed to Below Lab Detectable Limits: Chlorine Residual (Total Residual Chlorine
Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC): Removed to Below Laboratory Detectable Limits
Heavy Metals: Aluminum, Antimony, Barium, Cadmium, Chromium, Cobalt, Copper, Hexavalent Chromium (Chromium 6), Lead, Mercury, Molybdenum, Nickel, Vanadium
Also removes or reduces: Arsenic, MBAS, Nitrites, Selenium, Thallium, Rust, Silt and Sediment, Turbidity, Foul Tastes and Odors
BerkeyFiltersUSA
Other Options
You can also remove chlorine from your water by leaving it in an open container at room temperature for a few days, using a UV light, or boiling your water for 20+ minutes.
Chemicals in Daily Products
- Use glass or bamboo rather than plastic.
- Buy organic beauty products marked paraben and formaldehyde free.
- Eat fresh – garden or buy fresh from the farmers market rather than packaged.
- When buying packaged foods, check that containers are BPA free (this includes canned food).
- For fabric, (clothes, curtains, sheets, etc.) skip the polyester and buy organic cotton or bamboo.
- “Is polyester toxic? So, the straight forward answer is: yes. Polyester is a synthetic material which has many toxic chemicals embedded in it. … Also, if you wear synthetic clothes, your body heat also releases these chemicals into the air and the chemicals are absorbed by your skin.” https://www.thehouseofpillows.eu/polyester-shouldnt-be-in-your-bed-blog/
- Organic Cotton Home Products
- Organic Cotton Clothing
Are there any other toxins that need to be avoided during pregnancy that I haven’t mentioned? Has your medical provider ever mentioned these dangers? Any tips for other mamas and future mamas?
As an affiliate, I may receive a small stipend, at no additional cost to you, for any purchases made. Thanks for supporting a work at home mom!
You may also like: Natural Ways to Prepare Your Body for an Easy and Intervention-Free Birth and A Quick Guide On What To Read For An Empowered and Informed Birth
This is so weird. I just got off the Berkey water filter website. I’m trying to convince my husband to get one. Great tips for just overall health for all of us!
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