Pregnancy is prime time for green living. During those precious nine months, your baby is exposed to what you eat, drink, and breathe — whether you’re munching healthful broccoli or inhaling nasty nail polish remover. What to do? Whenever possible, choose organic foods, which protect baby and you from pesticides, herbicides, hormones, antibiotics and other scary ingredients. With a few more eco acts you’ll also help keep your baby safe from common household toxins (read: toss the nail polish stuff).
But remember: you don’t need to be perfect or 100 percent organic to safeguard your little one. Take a few of these steps, aim short of perfection, and you’ll have a perfectly healthy baby indeed.
Eat organic greens (and reds). Nutrient-rich organic foods not only boost your baby’s health, they help sustain the planet. And going organic will keep dangerous chemicals out of your body, your breast milk, and your child.
Buying organic can get pricey, alas. So to keep from busting the budget, go organic where it counts the most. What to target? Buy organic apples and potatoes — the conventional kinds are among the most pesticide-poisoned foods around. Avoid the rest of the dirty dozen, too. If you’re eating red meat, choose organic beef (it won’t have added hormones and other troublemakers). For the same reasons, choose low-fat or fat-free organic milk and dairy products. Toxins have a bad habit of building up in fatty tissue, so reducing fat intake (and avoiding obesity) can help reduce the risk of harmful exposures.
An added bonus? Babies in the womb develop a liking for the things moms eat during pregnancy. Choose right, and you’ll steer Junior toward a lifetime of healthy food yens.
Don't smoke or drink alcohol. You’ve heard it a million times, so we won’t, um, belabor the point. But just in case you’ve been in a cave for 40 years: don’t use illicit drugs, either.
Don’t mess with mercury. Mercury is a particularly potent neurotoxin linked to serious developmental and health problems for fetuses and children. If possible, avoid it altogether. If you must eat fish, don’t eat those with the highest levels of mercury, which are: king mackerel, marlin, orange roughy, shark, swordfish, tilefish, and tuna (including bigeye and ahi). Check the list from the Natural Resources Defense Council and make sure to limit your intake of fish with moderate-to-high mercury levels.
Rest assured. Once babies arrive, some of the other important bits of greenery are, well, snoozers. According to pediatrician Alan Greene — author of the acclaimed guide Raising Baby Green — infants spend more than 13 hours a day sleeping, so organic crib mattresses are key.
Conventional mattresses, Greene notes, are filled with polyvinyl chloride, phthalates, polyurethane foam, and fire retardants called PBDEs (polybrominated diphenyl ethers). Shun this toxic stew and buy green crib mattresses made with organic wool and cotton.
Conventional cotton, meanwhile, is one of the most insecticide-ridden crops in the world. So outfit the crib with organic cotton sheets, free of toxic chemicals, bleaches, and dyes.
If it smells, it stinks. Ever wonder why lotions and potions smell so un-lovely? Curious about that stinky vinyl shower curtain and gag-worthy air freshener? Pungent odors can be a warning sign that a substance isn’t safe.
The worst offenders are pesticides, which are filled with neurotoxic organophosphates. It’s also wise to avoid volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — dangerous solvents that spritz, spray, and waft into the air from dozens of products, including paints, glues, and air fresheners. When you breathe in these toxins, your baby does too.
Solvents, in fact, are more of a problem than you’d think, present in everything from fingernail polish and remover to cleaners, paint thinners, and correction fluids. What to do? Steer clear of these off-gassing products. Many of them have warning labels; don’t blow them off.
And that shower curtain? Avoid vinyl, aka poly vinyl chloride (PVC), which contains hormone-disrupting chemicals called phthalates. Try hemp, cotton, or “PEVA” curtains.
Phthalates are also the chemicals behind that vague word, “fragrance,” that you see on cosmetics labels. So beautify the organic way. Green looks good on everybody!
Get the lead out. Yes, you want to nest. But renovations often involve all the solvents mentioned above, plus another potent health hazard: lead. If your home was built pre-1980, there’s a chance it harbors lead paint, a toxin that causes serious harm to fetal development. (Lead test-kits are available at most hardware stores.)
Renovations can also expose you to asbestos, a fireproofing agent used in everything from flooring to insulation. So forget about scraping, painting, and rebuilding. If the job must be done, let someone else do it. Have your helper use eco-friendly paints and products. And stay away from the dust and fumes. Who needs the aggravation?! You’ve got better things cooking.
Maredith B. says:
This is all great info for anyone even considering getting pregnant---except I am somewhat horrified that a low fat diet is recommended for a pregnant woman! The fat in animal foods is only "toxic" if the animal is, in which case it shouldn't be eaten anyway! Getting grass-fed (preferrably), organic milk, cheese, eggs, and yes, meat is an excellent way to ensure the nutrient dense diet that mothers to be (and growing children!) need.
Another good addition to this list would be to consider a midwife and/or homebirth, to reduce the amount of "resources" used and to reduce risks and exposures to toxins/medications, etc. in the hospital.
Chamomile N. says:
I agree with Maredith, having a home birth with my first child was one of the greenest things I could have done for him. I would suggest it for everyone with a low-risk pregnancy.