Well + Good: What To Look For in a Pregnancy-Safe Bug Spray, According to Doctors

When you’re pregnant, it’s important to do what you can to ensure a healthy pregnancy.

Well + Good: What To Look For in a Pregnancy-Safe Bug Spray, According to Doctors

Last updated:
May 2, 2024
|  5 min read
Individual spraying insect repellent on their arm.

Well + Good: What To Look For in a Pregnancy-Safe Bug Spray, According to Doctors

Well + Good: What To Look For in a Pregnancy-Safe Bug Spray, According to Doctors

YouTube video highlight

When you’re pregnant, it’s important to do what you can to ensure a healthy pregnancy.

Watch video

Well + Good: What To Look For in a Pregnancy-Safe Bug Spray, According to Doctors

Thumbnail Slider Image
No items found.

What To Look For in a Pregnancy-Safe Bug Spray, According to Doctors

When you’re pregnant, it’s important to do what you can to ensure a healthy pregnancy. This will involve thinking twice about what you put on your skin and opting to use pregnancy-safe skin-care products—bug spray included.

Certain ingredients found in bug spray—such as DEET—can be absorbed into the skin, and if these ingredients aren’t deemed safe for use when pregnant, it can be potentially harmful to a pregnant person’s developing baby, especially if used in high concentrations. “As a product is absorbed into the skin, it will usually end up in our bloodstream and then get shared with a growing baby via the placenta and/or umbilical cord,” says Sarah Connors, ND, a naturopathic doctor and doula based in Ontario, Canada. “Keeping in mind that any products we use end up getting shared with our unborn children makes it that much more important to be aware of the ingredients in that product.”

Still, it’s essential to use bug spray to protect against itchy bites and insect-borne diseases like Zika and West Nile virus, which can also put pregnant people and their offspring at risk of harm. Fortunately, there are options that are safe and effective to use when pregnant.

Learn more about safe bug spray ingredients, written by Jenn Sinrich, Kayla Hui, Danielle Calma here.

Well + Good: What To Look For in a Pregnancy-Safe Bug Spray, According to Doctors

What To Look For in a Pregnancy-Safe Bug Spray, According to Doctors

When you’re pregnant, it’s important to do what you can to ensure a healthy pregnancy. This will involve thinking twice about what you put on your skin and opting to use pregnancy-safe skin-care products—bug spray included.

Certain ingredients found in bug spray—such as DEET—can be absorbed into the skin, and if these ingredients aren’t deemed safe for use when pregnant, it can be potentially harmful to a pregnant person’s developing baby, especially if used in high concentrations. “As a product is absorbed into the skin, it will usually end up in our bloodstream and then get shared with a growing baby via the placenta and/or umbilical cord,” says Sarah Connors, ND, a naturopathic doctor and doula based in Ontario, Canada. “Keeping in mind that any products we use end up getting shared with our unborn children makes it that much more important to be aware of the ingredients in that product.”

Still, it’s essential to use bug spray to protect against itchy bites and insect-borne diseases like Zika and West Nile virus, which can also put pregnant people and their offspring at risk of harm. Fortunately, there are options that are safe and effective to use when pregnant.

Learn more about safe bug spray ingredients, written by Jenn Sinrich, Kayla Hui, Danielle Calma here.

Photo thumbnail Blog Author
Media Mentions from Well + Good
Well + Good
Well+Good is the premier lifestyle and news site devoted to the wellness scene—and its chic lifestyle components.
Media Mentions

Well + Good: What To Look For in a Pregnancy-Safe Bug Spray, According to Doctors

What To Look For in a Pregnancy-Safe Bug Spray, According to Doctors

When you’re pregnant, it’s important to do what you can to ensure a healthy pregnancy. This will involve thinking twice about what you put on your skin and opting to use pregnancy-safe skin-care products—bug spray included.

Certain ingredients found in bug spray—such as DEET—can be absorbed into the skin, and if these ingredients aren’t deemed safe for use when pregnant, it can be potentially harmful to a pregnant person’s developing baby, especially if used in high concentrations. “As a product is absorbed into the skin, it will usually end up in our bloodstream and then get shared with a growing baby via the placenta and/or umbilical cord,” says Sarah Connors, ND, a naturopathic doctor and doula based in Ontario, Canada. “Keeping in mind that any products we use end up getting shared with our unborn children makes it that much more important to be aware of the ingredients in that product.”

Still, it’s essential to use bug spray to protect against itchy bites and insect-borne diseases like Zika and West Nile virus, which can also put pregnant people and their offspring at risk of harm. Fortunately, there are options that are safe and effective to use when pregnant.

Learn more about safe bug spray ingredients, written by Jenn Sinrich, Kayla Hui, Danielle Calma here.

Photo thumbnail Blog Author
Media Mentions from Well + Good
Well + Good
Well+Good is the premier lifestyle and news site devoted to the wellness scene—and its chic lifestyle components.
Media Mentions
browse all articles
Here at Sawyer
September 27, 2021
6 Min
Down East: Ultra-Athlete Katie Spotz Bikes 360 Miles Across Maine
Read More

Media Mentions

We’ve used this filter for over 800 miles in the backcountry and it’s still the best option for clean drinking water.

Brett Kretzer
Brett Kretzer
Adventurer. Writer. Creator.

Media Mentions

Squeeze Water Filtration System by Sawyer

Garage Grown Gear
Media Mentions from Garage Grown Gear

Media Mentions

This popular repellent from Sawyer has 20% Picaridin, which protects against a wide range of insects, including mosquitoes, ticks, biting flies, gnats, chiggers and sand flies.

Amylia Ryan
Associate Editor
<<  Previous Post
No previous post!
Check out our Directory
Next Post  >>
No next post!
Check out our Directory