It is summer and you are pregnant. You and your unborn baby can still enjoy the sun but you need to keep yourself from wrinkles, dark spots, and sunburn that can be resulted from the reaction of the sun rays on your skin while being pregnant. Get a good sunscreen to protect your skin without harming the life inside your tummy but be cautious about your choice.
US Huffington Post featured six important rules to pregnancy-safe sunscreens:
- Choose a mineral or physical sunscreen, not a chemical one
- Look for non-nano particles
- Avoid vitamin A
- Do not use spray-on sunscreens
- Drink tons of water
- Spread your facial sunblock to your neck and chest.
Babymoonguide has many important points to give when it comes to the use of sunscreen while being pregnant. These include:
- Choose a brand with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or more
- Look for a brand offering protection against both UVA and UVB rays.
- Try to avoid the sun between 10 am to 2 pm, when the sun's rays are at their strongest.
- Make sure your sunscreen is water resistant if you plan to go swimming.
- Always reapply sunscreen AT LEAST every 2 hours, especially if you go swimming or are sweating.
- Avoid sunscreens containing bug repellent. Whilst frequent reapplication of sunscreen is a GOOD thing, frequent application of bug repellent is NOT!
Always remember that to wear sun protection while you are pregnant is very important not just for you but for your baby too. The pigment-producing skin cells (melanocytes) have strong reactions to the sunlight, which can cause chloasma ("the mask of pregnancy") that usually appear as dark brown blotches on your skin.
When leaving the house, wear an SPF of at least 30. Take note that not all sunscreens are safe. The chemicals can enter the bloodstream and could affect the baby dramatically. Avoid those with 4-methylbenzylidene camphor, homosalate, oxybenzone, para-aminobenzoic acid, and octocrylene.
It is always safe to ask your OB Gyne which sunscreen is safe for you and your baby with your specific conditions to consider. You must also know the risks of sun exposure according to pregnancy situation as well.
