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May 3, 2023 13 mins

We moms are careful while pregnant to safeguard the precious lives growing inside us. Did you know that what you put on your skin after your baby is born matters just as much?

Listen in on how certain ingredients can transfer from your body into your breastmilk and your newborn. You will want to take note of these ingredients and avoid them during this next precious phase of your journey.

Share this episode with any friends expecting or with newborns at home. Thank will thank you, I promise!

Click Here to check out the Fertility Awareness Blog Post Series referenced in this episode.

Click Here if you would like to read our blog post on Nursing Moms and Beauty Product Ingredients.

Click Here for a complete list of our No Thank You List

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Thank you for listening to the Eco Mama podcast. Please note that this podcast's information is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is based on personal experiences and opinions. We are not licensed healthcare providers; the content should not be considered professional medical advice.

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Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to continuing to share our journey toward a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle with you.





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Episode Transcript

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Jaime Snell (00:01):
Hi, and welcome back to the ECO Mama Podcast.
I'm your host, Jaime Snell, andI'm excited to be back with you
today.
I have been doing a lot ofresearch lately, trying to
understand more in depth abouthow the products that we use
every day can affect ourhormones.
Now, as an ECO mama, I've alwaysbeen interested in how our

(00:23):
products can affect ourchildren.
As their bodies develop, astheir brains grow and as their
hormones develop.
I'm learning more and morethough that it's not, just our
kids, that these hormonal,disruptions were occurring and
it's also adults, but I'mlearning more and more about
the, the endocrine disruptorsthat are wreaking havoc and our

(00:46):
hormonal systems, how they areaffecting women of a fertile
age.
And there's some really sadstatistics out there that have
just made me.
Like open my eyes more and moreand more about the importance of
sharing this information.
This is one of those things thatjust aren't talked about that

(01:07):
often, and I feel the need likeDayton and my core to talk about
it.
And I know someone out there.
I know that you have to knowsomeone out there that has
probably struggled with thetopic that I'm gonna touch on
right now, and, and my heartgoes out to you.
My heart goes out to them.
I've had friends who struggledwith fertility, struggled with

(01:30):
miscarriages, even struggledwith I V F.
In the process of trying tofulfill their dreams of having a
family, what I'm learning abouta lot of the products that we
use and the chemicals that areput into these products, they're
mimicking our hormones andmaking our bodies believe that
something's happening when it'snot, or that, something's not

(01:54):
happening when it actually is.
I know that kind of soundsweird, and you need to know I'm
not a scientist, I'm not adoctor.
I am a mama who geeks out aboutall these little details and I
love to learn as much aspossible.
And I soak it up like a spongeand then I come on here and I
share it with you.
But what's happening is that,our body is made to produce

(02:15):
certain chemicals and certainhormones throughout our life
when we have these endocrineinstructors in our system.
Our body is not getting clearmessages about what to produce
and when, or it's overproducing,so it's overproducing or
under-producing.
There's no natural balance thatit's occurring because we're

(02:36):
putting some syntheticingredients into our bodies.
Their bodies were never designedto absorb or process.
They just don't know what to dowith it.
So I wanna go over a couple ofthose things.
They, they linked together, lastweek was National Infertility
Awareness Week for in the UnitedStates and for 2023, and I did a

(03:03):
seven part.
Blog post, I'll put the linkdown below.
I'm not gonna go too much intodepth with that.
It's a resource that I wanna zipout there for.
Anyone interested in learningmore about the awareness of it?
How many people don't talk aboutit, the taboos, you know me, I
the first to talk aboutsomething that nobody else wants
to talk about.
So here's one of'em.

(03:24):
One in eight women in the USthey struggle with pregnancy.
Infertility, miscarriages, whathave you, and I'm a firm
believer that one of the majorcontributors.
Is the chemicals that we'reexposed to on a daily basis.
There's a lot of controversyaround this.
Again, this is just my personalopinion.

(03:45):
Take it or leave it.
Do your own research.
I'm happy to share my resourceswith you, but in that process,
there's other things like onceyou do get pregnant, you wanna
make sure that you're takingcare of your body so that you
can sustain the pregnancy.
I've had friends go throughmiscarriages, as I mentioned,
and it is heart wrenching.
So heart-wrenching, and ifthere's anything that I can ever

(04:08):
do as an individual, as a childof God, as a woman on this
earth, is to help someone avoidthat type of pain and loss.
And the research that I've done,I just wanna share with you
today what some of thoseendocrine disruptors are.
A good indicator for them isjust to know like, well, what's
safe to put in your body whenyou're breastfeeding?

(04:30):
So let's think about when youare breastfeeding your new baby,
or your friend just had a childin their breastfeeding.
There's certain things you don'teat.
You could even eat them when youwere pregnant, but you don't
wanna eat them while you'rebreastfeeding.
And there are some things thatyou couldn't eat while you're
pregnant, you're still noteating while you're
breastfeeding.
An example would probably be,gosh, what am I like spicy

(04:51):
foods, garlic, things like that.
Things that could upset thebaby's tummy because what is in
your breast milk?
Is going to transfer into yourbaby's belly and that baby is
still developing its belly, itsability to digest food, its
ability to break things down.
You're testing the waters.
Do they have allergies?
You know, we don't give honey toour babies in the first year

(05:11):
because.
We wanna make sure that theydon't have an allergic reaction
to it.
So what I'm gonna share todayare, I think it's six
ingredients that you want toavoid while you're breastfeeding
because they have found, studieshave found that these are not
healthy to your babies as theyare.
Their bodies are developing astheir stomachs are developing,

(05:32):
learning to digest.
Their brains are developing.
All of this, what have you, sothese ingredients, several of
them are hormone disruptors.
So I'll go ahead and like tellyou that out front it disrupts
the hormones.
It mimics different things, andit gets in the way of the baby's
natural development.
And this is whether you have ababy boy or a baby girl, or one

(05:52):
of each it is just imperative toavoid.
These ingredients when you arebreastfeeding.
So the first one are parabens.
Now I've done an individual, uh,podcast previously on most of
these ingredients.
I can link that down below.
It gets more into detail aboutwhat that actual ingredient is,

(06:12):
what it's found in, and why it'sbad for our bodies.
Parabens are preservatives.
They're commonly found incosmetics and personal care
products, and they're linked tobreast cancer.
That can potentially disruptyour hormones.
Number two, phalates.
This is a tricky one to spellbecause it does not sound the

(06:32):
way it's spelled.
It's P H T H A L A T E S.
Our chemicals in various beautyproducts, including fragrances,
hairsprays, and nail polishes.
If you have listened to any ofmy podcasts and the word
fragrance comes up, you know I'mputting it back on the shelf.
I say, no thank you to anythingwith fragrance in it.

(06:54):
These are known and endocrinedisruptors and can potentially
harm the development of thereproductive system of your
babies.
So think about the ovaries thatare.
Like they exist, but they stillhave to have like healthy
formation and development as thebody grows and the testicles.
You know, there's some debateabout during pregnancy, having

(07:14):
certain chemicals exposed to,the mom while the baby's still
in gestation, and the increasingrate of testicle drops not
happening in newborn baby boys.
Number three on this list ofthings that nursing moms should
avoid.
Formaldehyde.
This probably comes withoutsaying, but do you really know

(07:36):
what to look for when you'retrying to avoid formaldehyde?
Formaldehyde you're probablymost familiar with as a chemical
put into.
Cadavers so that it preservestheir body a little bit longer.
Well, the industry of personalcare products, cleaning
products, beauty products theyput from aldehyde as a
preservative in these productsso that it will last longer and

(07:58):
it's actually getting onto yourskin, into your bloodstream.
Mind you, they are limited inhow much they can put in.
It's only trace amounts, but aswe've seen with anything over
time, the more exposure youhave, the more chances you are
to have negative side effectsfrom these chemicals.
So, in my opinion, it's justbetter to avoid them.

(08:21):
If at all possible.
So, formaldehyde is apreservative.
It's commonly found in hairstraightening treatments and
nail polishes.
It's a known carcinogen and canbe harmful if inhaled or
absorbed through the skin.
So it's another thing that'sbest to avoid.
Avoid while breastfeeding.
Now when I say, do you reallyknow if it has formaldehyde in
your ingredients, it's not gonnasay for me how to hide my

(08:43):
friends.
This is gonna be hidden underyour fragrances.
There are certain, chemicalsthat have a chemical reaction
when they touch and they createthis preservative so it can
actually be created within theprocess of mixing the water.
Most of your products, your hairproducts that have a high water
concentration also have thatformaldehyde in it.

(09:06):
Retinoids are anotheringredient.
Now, these are more common inyour face creams.
Think of like the anti-agingcreams or Acne treatments, so
they can also harm developingfetuses.
So if you're pregnant,definitely stay away from it.
And infants, so you don't wantthat to be in your breast milk
that can be transferred intoyour baby's belly.

(09:27):
HydroOne.
HydroOne is a syntheticcompound, commonly found in skin
lightning in anti-agingproducts.
So that's another one thatyou're gonna find it in some of
your products for your face ifyou're starting to get sunspots.
Some of these.
You know, considered luxurybrand high end.
Miracle face creams will containthis ingredient because it's

(09:50):
kind of trying to bleach yourskin to lighten the tone and to
make it a little bit more evenkeel.
If you have sunspots on there,you just wanna avoid this.
Those dark spots are just partof nature.
If it really, really bothersyou, just cover it up a little
bit with some makeup orfoundation.
But don't put this on your skin.
It is so bad for you.
The way it works on your body isthat it inhibits the melanin

(10:13):
production in your skin, butyour body needs to produce that.
That's, that's how your body wasdesigned, HydroOne has been
linked to skin irritations,including hives and swelling.
Given allergic reactions,difficulty breathing, and of
course hormonal disruptions.
Now in animal studies, not thatI'm a proponent for animal

(10:36):
testing, but many people stilldo it in their products, but
they have found developmentalissues in animals when they've
done testing on that.
So stay away from that.
Fragrances are another one.
I mentioned this brieflyearlier, but they're found in
many beauty and personal careproducts.
Like most of what I find on thegrocery store shelf has a, has
the word fragrance and it'singredients and it is not safe

(10:58):
for you.
They can be problematic for manypeople, especially those with
sensitive skin or allergiesmaking.
Contain up to 3000 undisclosedingredients.
So if it has fragrance, it, justavoid it at all costs.
I don't care if you're pregnantor you just got a baby, you,
you, man, woman, what have you.

(11:18):
Just stay away from fragrances.
There's nothing good aboutfragrances.
Sally Slic acid is another one.
It is often found and used inwhat's used in the skin in care
industry for acne treatments andexfoliating products.
Now, there are natural ways toexfoliate.
You don't need products to dothis, my friends.
So it's generally used as forsafe skin care products and

(11:41):
small amounts considered safe,but, Just don't mess with it.
And high concentrations arereally bad for your new baby, so
just stay away from anythingthat's gonna peel your skin or
exfoliate your skin.
Just get, a, like a lofa, andthen you can gently do that on
your face if you're worriedabout some dry skin patches.

(12:01):
Oxybenzone.
All right, so this is the lastingredient I'm gonna list to you
today for ingredients thatbreastfeeding moms need to try
to avoid.
It is a common ingredient insunscreen now.
It's been linked to hormonedisruption as well, and can
potentially harm the developmentof fetuses and infants.
So if you're pregnant, you alsowant to avoid the oxybenzone.

(12:24):
So skin protection is veryimportant.
And what a mom puts on theirskin really matters when moms
and babies enjoy that skin toskin contact.
Whatever you have on you isgonna transfer to your baby.
So even if you don't breastfeed,a lot of these ingredients that
I just mentioned, I wouldsuggest you still stay away from
it.
I mean, if you're loving on thatbaby, this stuff's gonna

(12:47):
transfer onto your baby, andit's just not worth taking those
health risks, especially at sucha vulnerable age.
Well, that is what I have foryou today.
I'm gonna leak the informationdown in the show notes that I
mentioned earlier, as well as ablog post.
That follows up on today'spodcast that will give you
additional information.
If you want more details or youknow, wanna check out any of

(13:09):
those sources that I hadmentioned.
I thank you so much for joiningme today, and I hope you have a
wonderful week.
That's it for today for the ECOMama Podcast.
Make sure you hit subscribe, andif you know someone who is
pregnant trying to get pregnantor just had a baby, share this
with them.

(13:29):
Give this little bit ofknowledge, even if they don't
read it today, like knowledge ispower.
So having this resource at theirfingertips when it matters most
would just be an honor to methat you could just share that
with someone that it could help.
Thank you so much and have agreat day.
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