Skin Care during Pregnancy/Breastfeeding

[packgal]

I'm currently pregnant and have stopped using BHA and Awesome Sauce during my pregnancy. These are really my two favorite skin care products for keeping my pores somewhat cleaned out and keeping my skin tone even and brighter. I have missed them and have definitely noticed a difference without them...more clogs/blackheads and blotchiness/dullness of my skin.

I was looking forward to adding these back in after I have my baby, but it looks like BHA is also not recommended during breastfeeding. Is Awesome Sauce also contraindicated for breastfeeding moms?

If so, I would appreciate any recommendations of other pregnancy/nursing-safe products to help with deeper exfoliation and skin evening/brightening. I read that the vitamin C is also not recommended.

My current regimen:
SN KISS cleanser in the foaming bottle
a 2% AHA lactic acid gel followed by SN lavender toner 2-3x a week
SN microdermabrasion gel once a week (not on same night as AHA)
homemade NaPCA spray to hydrate
SN Rose serum
SN Hemp Moisturizer

[JenW]

I am passing your question on to Karen. Hopefully, she can tell you what she used and is using.

My sister recently had a baby. I think she used the Vitamin C Peptide serum. I believe you that you read somewhere that Vitamin C is not good for breastfeeding mothers, but I am wondering how much to actually believe that. Are they now recommending that breastfeeding mothers avoid anything with Vitamin C in it? That would cut out most of the foods my sister ate....Broccoli, strawberries, citrus fruits, bell peppers...... And a topical water soluble vitamin in small amounts (likely less than what dietary C would be in my opinion) crossing into breast milk? It is possible. How much? A good question. Unless your OB or lactation consultant tells you to restrict Vitamin C intake, I would not. I think this is a case where the benefits far outweigh the possible problems. But again, I am not an expert.

And Congratulations, and wishes for a healthy baby and mom!

[karen]

Congratulations!!!! I recommend leaving your skin pretty much alone for the first few post partum weeks. It's a really big hormonal shift, and I honestly don't think there's much that will help with post-partum skin. You'll feel really lucky just to have a chance to shower.

I did a quick lookup on KellysMom.com (my go-to breastfeeding resource), and couldn't find anything about avoiding Vitamin C, but it's a huge site. I know that occasionally citrus, and the gassier foods can sometimes upset a baby tummy, but when I had Ali the lactation consultant said to eat whatever I'd like, and then eliminate them if he seemed fussy. Lemon and sour foods can reduce supply, but I've never heard of avoiding vitamin c in general. Sage, and peppermint can also reduce supply FWIW.

In the very beginning it seemed like everything made him fussy, and all babies spit-up so it's tough to keep track especially when you're trying to recover and get used to everything else.

Aspirin is listed as "moderately safe" for breast feeding, so I think you'd be ok with occasionally using some BHA if you and the baby are up for it.

As far as Awesome Sauce- it's an ask your doctor situation. Teprenone (Renovage) is an actual drug used to treat ulcers in Japan. I couldn't locate any information on it as far as pregnancy and breastfeeding. I skipped it because I had pretty extreme supply issues and didn't want to chance it. If I had been an over producer I may have chosen differently. I did take Zantac on the advice of the family doctor to increase my supply, and it's sort of related to the acid reducing meds.

Renovage is a very weak solution of Teprenone- and the amount you use is very little, so I don't think it would be a terrible thing, but it's really going to depend on what you and your baby need, and what your doctor says.

Good luck!!!! I recommend reading the book "Making More Milk"- it's an excellent resource that really helped Ali and I.

[packgal]

Thank you so much for your help, Jen and Karen! I appreciate your replies a lot.
Regarding the Vitamin C, I was going off of this thread but I have read on other skincare sites that it is fine to use during pregnancy so I think I would be good with that one.

Thanks again for your thoughts. I hope you are enjoying your little guy Karen -- he's getting to be a fun age I hope also that the trip to France went well. I am definitely getting excited to meet my little boy too

[moonshyne]

Kellymom is a great site! I breastfeed my little guy (6 month old) and to be honest I think Vit C would be fine. I also think most skin care ingredients would show up in tiny amounts in breastmilk. I take a very strong medicine and was told the amount in my milk would be in the nano grams, hardly anything. Still, the best thing would be to ask a LC (I found my doctor to be incredibly I knowledgeable about BF'ing, I think that's the case for a lot of GP's) my best source of into has been from my LC.

Also, I second that the first few weeks pp your normal skin care regimen will probably go out the window as you get used to life with a newborn. My hormones went crazy for a good month after I had my son and I swear water broke me out lol.

Congrats on your little guy and I hope you have a smooth, safe delivery.