Nail care during pregnancy

Pregnancy will sure have an impact on the way you care for your body. How about nail care? Are there any changes to your nails while you are expecting a baby? Do you need to stop having manicures and pedicures?

Nail changes during pregnancy

Skin, hair, and nails do undergo some changes during pregnancy. Pregnancy hormones make your nails grow faster, but many women experience weak and brittle nails while they are expecting. Some of this can be avoided by eating well, and paying attention that you get enough B vitamins and calcium by taking a good multivitamin supplement, for instance. Grooves in nails are a sign of nutritional deficiencies, so watch out for those.

Can you use nail polish or have nail extensions while you are pregnant?

There is no scientific evidence that using nail polish does a fetus any harm, so it is safe to assume that you can use nail polish without any danger to your baby. Many women also still have nail extensions while they are pregnant. Some doctors warn against this, but mainly because nail extensions make your possibly already brittle nails even thinner (they are filed before the acrylic nails are applied).

I personally had acrylic nails during most of my first pregnancy, but unfortunately they began to fall off during the third trimester... and when I had them replaced, they would fall off again each time. I gave up in the end, and also found that nail extensions are a pain when you are caring for a tiny baby. It's interesting that pregnancy hormones apparently made the nails come off, though.

So, having nail extensions may not pose any harm to your baby in terms of exposure to chemicals, but working in a nail salon most definitely will. Even wearing surgical masks won't prevent you from being harmed by chemicals. If you work in a nail salon and are pregnant or trying to conceive, talk to your doctor about the dangers.