If you are pregnant and wondering whether you can safely get highlights or a perm, the truth is that very little is known about the effects of specific chemicals in many of the hair treatments in your favorite salon.
Here is what we know. All hair treatments (perms, dyes, highlights) have chemicals which can be absorbed into the mother's body through her scalp. There is also the potential risk from the fumes in the salon, even if the treatments are being done on someone else.
Some good rules of thumb about colors, highlights and perms during pregnancy are:
- Avoid all hair treatments when the growing baby is most vulnerable in the first trimester.
- Reduce exposure from fumes as much as possible (sitting near an open window in the salon for example.)
- Use only highlights and foil colorings since the dye does not have as much contact with the mother's scalp as an all-over coloring.
- Use a vegetable-based coloring such as henna.
For the complete set of articles on what to avoid during pregnancy, click here.
Brenda Lane - Brenda Lane is a published author, Lamaze certified childbirth educator, DONA certified birth doula and approved birth doula trainer.
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