Pregnancy safe products

[ecoexplorer]

Hello, I'm new to this part of the forum. I'm

apparently 5w4d pregnant according to the tests and also my body feeling really wierd over the last week...first pregnancy after 6 IVF transfers.

I wondered if any of you have been told to use pregnancy safe products like unscented ones etc?

I, like a lot of you probably, have that horrible discharge from pesseries and so wear panti liners, but the ones I picked up the other day seem to be lightly scented...they are the Always long + I think they are called. If any of you have been told not to use them because they could have bad effects on you or embryo please let me know. They seem to be the only ones that actually stay in place for longer than a couple of hours though!

Same goes for deoderant/shower stuff etc.

I just don't want to mess this up but still want to smell great and protect my underwear.

Thanks and sorry for continuing this discussions from over at the other forum but really need some advice as the clinic probably won't help me.

p.s. have any of you had lower back pain at this stage?

Thanks and good luck on all your journeys.

[JA-fnuk Partner]

Sure the smell/discharge is not as bad as you imagine Just use plain soap and water - maybe try unscented bathing products This can be a very stressful time -for added support take a look at our website fertilitynetworkuk.org for closed Facebook Group Pregnancy & Beyond Group [ on menu click Access to Support then select Fertility Groups and scroll to UK-Wide Groups to find the above group]Follow the prompts to register Next Zoom Meeting Tuesday 28th May at 8pm

Take care

Janet-Partner

[Wishinandahopin]

firstly congratulations!

Basically something scented is highly unlikely to hurt your embryo now. I think it’s been shown that using products like that can hinder egg quality in the long run. But won’t have an acute effect on the embryo.

The reason I wouldn’t use a scented Panty liner is that in the long run it can actually have the opposite effect as the scent can disrupt the PH of the vagina and then cause bacterial vaginosis or thrush etc, and there would me a teeny chance that one of those things could cause harm to the embryo (again unlikely) I also wouldn’t use any scented products down there for the same reason.

You should also be changing your panty liner regularly too, so it doesn’t need to stay in place longer than a few hours but I appreciate the frustration!

I wouldn’t worry too much about other products- I changed a lot of mine to more natural products when I was doing ivf but that was again for egg quality. It’s not a bad thing to aim for in the long run but won’t affect your current embryo ☺️

Also yes I had some lower back pain in early pregnancy! All sorts of symptoms!

Good luck - hope everything goes smoothly!

[happypupp]

I use Natracare organic cotton liners, never synthetic products made from petrol/plastic. Our skin down there absorb toxins way more than say from arms. Yes I had to change them every 1-2 hours and went thru them very quickly but only until the end of hormone replacement, which for me was 12 weeks. Panty liners shouldn't be worn too long especially when we have increased discharge creating a damp environment for germs and yeasts. I wouldn't even use bar soaps, they are alkaline and your vaginal pH should be acidic. Rinse with warm water, could spray 1:1 solution of green tea + organic apple cyder vinegar - that was advice from a functional nutritionist to keep yeast infection at bay. It was originally to be sprayed to my partner as sex can trigger infections.

Taking feminine probiotics also help with healthy uterine/vaginal microbiome.

[Eloquentia]

Hi! Like you, I switched to unscented products during IVF and pregnancy. I used Carefree unscented panty liners and a lot of the Urtekram unscented line that I bought from Amazon - shower gel, body lotion etc. Unscented soap from the Little Soap Company. And Ecover for cleaning and washing products. I wish you a smooth and easy pregnancy!

[ecoexplorer]

Thank you all for your kind wishes and thoughts, I will look at the companies you all suggest. This time next week I have my scan so we will see then whether we progress to the next stage.

[AOHJ]

Hi! I also use unscented panty liners but more to avoid thrush, like others have said. I’m careful about what I put on my skin though and have just ordered some pregnancy safe skincare products from Evolve Organic Beauty which are really natural and I’ve been impressed with them so far. It is hard to know how much to be concerned about these things but I figured that it helps me to control what I can, in a situation where we often feel out of control! Good luck with it all x