Nontoxic Maternity Products

Like any new parents, we wanted to do everything right to help our baby girl. If you know me, I’m not one to do things part way. I’m for sure a go big or go home kind of girl. So when Jaxlee, our first daughter, was born with Cerebral Palsy– with no history of any kind of disorder in our family–I went all in on figuring out the best way to support her. (Learn more about Jaxlee’s NICU story here.) It was in this process that I learned, really vividly, how EVERYTHING pregnant women put in and on their bodies gets absorbed by our babies in utero. 

One of my first steps in my process was to knock on every holistic doctor’s door to see what they could do to help Jax. We found someone we really trusted. As I sat on the chair in his office, baby Jaxlee in my arms for one of our first visits, he shared that the #1 way for a woman to rid her body of toxins is to have a baby. 

That concept– and that image– of everything I consume being passed on to my kids is a moment I will never forget. 

In fact, a recent study by the EWG “found an average of 200 industrial chemicals and pollutants in umbilical cord blood from 10 babies born. Tests revealed a total of 287 chemicals in the group.  Of the 287 chemicals we detected in umbilical cord blood, we know that 180 cause cancer in humans or animals, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 cause birth defects or abnormal development in animal tests. The dangers of pre- or post-natal exposure to this complex mixture of carcinogens, developmental toxins and neurotoxins have never been studied.”

This is just one of the many reasons I am so conscious about the products I use on my body, the food I eat, the water I drink, and doing my best to reduce the toxins surrounding me in my daily environment. 

Everything from the deodorant I use to the anti-aging products I swear by, I have committed myself to finding and using products that not only work effectively but also products that are formulated with ingredients tested for safety, with my health and the health of my unborn baby at highest priority.

Products and Supplements

for Prenatal, Pregnancy, and Postnatal

• Vitamins to keep you and the baby healthy before getting pregnant, while the babe’s in utero, and in the postpartum stage: Innate Baby + Me, Wild Harvest Dandelion Root, Country Life Folate, MIG Brain Activation, Flora Adult Probiotic 
• My go-to for avoiding stretch marks: Beautycounter Melting Body Balm

• Essential oils that do more than smell good: DoTerra Clary Sage Essential Oil for labor and for vaginal healing– you can put it on your pads (in lieu of the spray the hospital gives you) and Young Living ClaraDerm Spray — instead of Dermoplast.

• Sea salts and sprays to manage headaches and body aches as the baby grows: Dr. Teals Epsom Salt, Dead Sea Warehouse Amazing Minerals Dead Sea Bath Salt,  magnesium spray (spray on your feet for headaches– usually headaches are hormone-induced, and magnesium does the trick.)

• Products for the post-baby stage: Seventh Generation Overnight Pads/Super Plus Pad, Kindred Bravely Organic Bamboo Washable Nursing Pads, Earth Mama Nipple Butter and Booby Tubes. And of course, the Haakaa Silicone Breast Pump .

Using all of these products helps keep me in the driver’s seat as a mom. Yes, life throws us curve balls and there is still a LOT outside of our control. But it’s a privilege to be a mom, and it’s a huge calling to parent a child with special needs. I want to know I’ve crossed off everything I can to help all three of my kiddos thrive.

xoxo,

Emily