Pregnancy Safe Cleaning
During your pregnancy, it’s important to be careful about what you put in your body. You know what you need to do to maintain a healthy diet, but what about everything else in your life? Avoid alcohol, don’t smoke, eat healthy, don’t eat sushi, and don’t do drugs is common knowledge, but is it safe to clean your house? You’re pregnant, but you still want to keep a nice home—especially since it will be much harder to do so once the baby comes.
Luckily, you don’t have to forgo keeping your home clean; you just have to take a few extra precautions.
Common cleaning products contain a lot of chemicals and often cause irritation to your skin, eyes, or even stomach. That’s because they’re toxic and have a mixture of ingredients like ammonia, parabens, chlorine, alcohol, and more. We get a lot of exposure to these chemicals as developed adults, but they are harmful to babies, both developing and newborn. Instead of putting yourself and your baby at risk, check out a few of these great, pregnancy safe cleaning tips.
General Tips for Cleaning During Pregnancy
Before diving in and tackling the mess, make sure you read through these general tips for cleaning during pregnancy.
Read Labels Thoroughly
Always, always, always read the labels and warnings on the products you’re about to use, especially when pregnant. Not many people do this, but when they do they realize that most of those household cleaning products we know and love are filled with harmful chemicals.
If you notice any sign that says “danger,” “toxic,” “poison,” or “corrosive,” don’t use it during pregnancy. Pregnancy already puts a strain on your body and you don’t want to be inhaling anything toxic or irritating right now.
If you don’t know what certain ingredients are, spend a little time doing research. If you find that your cleaning products are ridden with chemicals, consider making your own.
Consider Making Your Own Supplies
Making your own cleaning supplies is easy, safe, and effective. You probably already have most, if not all, of the ingredients lying around. Vinegar is a great all-purpose cleaning solution, baking soda removes stains, and hydrogen peroxide has the same effect as bleach. For more great, at home recipes for pregnancy-safe cleaning supplies, check out this article.
Keep the Room Ventilated
Regardless of if you’re using store-bought or homemade cleaning products, always keep the room ventilated. Keeping windows and doors closed will lock in harmful odors and fumes. Opening up the windows will create airflow, thus greatly improving the overall air quality. If you’re cleaning in the bathroom, turn on the fan for increased ventilation in a small space.
If you feel faint or lightheaded at any time during cleaning, stop, take a minute, and step outside and get some fresh air. When you come back, consider calling it a day and having your partner help you finish later.
Avoid Direct Contact with Products
Again, the toxicity of some cleaning products is irritating to your skin. To reduce the chances of absorbing chemicals, or being overly irritated, wear gloves and avoid direct contact with cleaning products. Your skin is sensitive during pregnancy, so while you might not have had any problems before, your pregnant skin could react differently.
Wear gloves, long sleeved shirts, and if you get any products in your eyes, flush it out immediately and follow the after-care procedures on the bottle.
Get Some Help
If all else fails, have your partner take over cleaning during your pregnancy. You’re going to be doing enough cleaning once the baby comes, so now is as good a time as any to pull the pregnant card and get out of cleaning. Ask your partner to help, especially when your belly starts to get bigger. Movements will be more difficult for you and pregnancy will make you tire out much faster, making it harder to get cleaning done in a reasonable amount of time.
Take Off Your Shoes
Whether it’s cleaning day or not, make it a habit to take off your shoes when you go inside. Shoes drag in an astronomical amount of dirt and bacteria from outside and then when you finally do take your shoes off your socks or bare feet will pick it up. To make your life a little easier, and reduce your exposure to germs or bacteria, take your shoes off at the door and ask your friends and family to do the same.
Listen to Your Body
If you’re cleaning and you start to feel nauseated, whether by the product or just some morning sickness, stop cleaning and get some help. Cleaning products have strong odors, which easily irritate an expecting mom’s heightened senses. Listen to what your body is telling you and take it easy when you need to.
Things to Avoid Cleaning While Pregnant
Sometimes, there are no precautions available that will make things safe for an expecting mother. Instead, have someone else do these jobs and avoid putting yourself and your baby at risk.
Don’t go Near Mold
Mold spores are dangerous when adults are exposed to them for elongated periods of time, so it makes sense that you should avoid it even more when you’re pregnant. There have also been links to birth defects in animals exposed to toxic substances produced by mold, so have someone else tackle this job.
Don’t Move Heavy Furniture
It’s common knowledge that pregnant women shouldn’t lift heavy objects, so don’t try to move or lift heavy furniture. With a shifted center of gravity, pregnant women are a higher fall risk and your body is in a state that’s more prone to injury. If you want to clean under heavy furniture, have your partner do the lifting while you tackle the cleaning.
Don’t Mix Ammonia with Cleaners
Ammonia mixed with certain cleaners creates a deadly gas called chloramine. Don’t mix these two to try and create a super-cleaner during pregnancy. In fact, don’t mix any cleaning products. There are dangers associated with different mixtures—read more about them here.
Don’t Use Spray or Aerosol Cleaners
If you’re customized to using a spray or aerosol cleaner, it’s time to find another product. Exposure to spray and aerosol cleaners have been associated with increased risks of asthma for your developing baby.
Some other types of cleaners to avoid include those with glycol ethers, parabens, phthalates, and triclosan.
Don’t Clean Your Litter Box
Coming in contact with cat feces during pregnancy is dangerous. Due to a toxin found in cat excrement called toxoplasmosis, pregnant women need to stay away from cleaning out the litter box. Toxoplasmosis has been shown to cause prematurity and even miscarriage, so it’s not worth the risk.
Cleaning Safely During Pregnancy
To learn more about the products you’re using in your home, check them out in more detail on the Environmental Working Group website to see the ingredients and health risks to your family. It’s an intense rating system, so don’t expect to find something that boasts 100% safety, but it’s a good way to see your options and how to make the best choice.
If you want to avoid taking any risks, it’s easy to make safe and effective cleaning products in the comfort of your own home. Check out this article with a list of simple homemade cleaners that are safe to use during pregnancy.
Conclusion
You don’t have to put yourself or your developing baby at risk to have a clean house. Just make sure you’re taking the necessary precautions to stay safe during the process. There are many natural, effective, and safe products you can buy or make right in the comfort of your own home. If you try one and don’t like it, try something else! You’ll find something that works for you eventually. In the mean time, you’ll be busy planning for your new baby. To help make the planning easier the Affordable Care Act allows new mothers to be eligible to receive an electric breast pump covered by their insurance provider. Check with your provider and shop our selection at Byram Healthcare to find something that works for you.
To share your favorite pregnancy safe cleaning product, head over to our Facebook page today and leave a comment! We’d love to hear what our readers use to keep their home clean… whenever they find the time to do so.
