Fragrance in Conception and Pregnancy

Fragrances can be powerful things. They connect to our emotions, bring back memories and alter mood. But many also have other effects- influencing our hormones in ways we might not expect.

If you've ever had to go through the difficult journey of fertility treatment, you're likely to have been advised to avoid fragrances (or at least certain ones) as part of this. However, most people aren't even aware that fragrances can have any impact on fertility or pregnancy.

As a background to this post, I was inspired to look into this by two things. As a doctor, I was walking through the theatre suite at work one day to find a sign on one of the theatres saying "no fragrance to be worn inside". Thinking it was an odd request, I asked the staff why the sign was there. "Oh, it's the fertility theatre- you can't have fragrance in there as it can affect the embryos". Well, they didn't teach us that at medical school- turns out it's true!

Recently, I was contacted on Instagram by a lady who works to help women with fertility and asked about their interest in low-toxin candles. I gave some advice, and turns out that she wasn't aware of the minefield of fragrances that you need to avoid in fertility and pregnancy either!

So, I felt it was about time to write something and provide some information and education to help guide people who are looking to conceive or are in pregnancy, yet want to continue enjoying fragranced products.

Not only that, but over the last few months I've been working hard at developing our first purposely developed fertility and pregnancy-safe fragrance, Astín, to make that choice easier (provided you like the smell of course!)

Before we go on, I want to set a further background to what this post is and isn't, and where it comes from. I am a qualified medical doctor. While I am passionate about natural products and sustainability, it is important to me that what I communicate is honest and evidence-based. You won't find any pseudoscience, conspiracy theories or clickbait here. This article is designed to help you make informed choices.

Furthermore, it's important that I point out that I understand that fertility and pregnancy can be a difficult and emotive journey for many people. I make no claims that any of our products (or using any fragranced product for that matter) will increase your chances of getting pregnant or improve your baby's health. This is more about educating on things to avoid so that it's easier to access information to make informed choices for yourself

Synthetic fragrance- what's so bad?

The difficulty with synthetic fragrance is that these products don't need to list their exact ingredients or chemicals. You'll see on the label, they're just listed as "parfum" or "fragrance". Many synthetic fragrances are known to be endocrine disruptors and can affect sperm quality, fertility and fetal development. Although all fragrances legally sold will have a safety datasheet and list of toxins available somewhere online, this (and safety studies) are geared towards toxicity if adults were to be exposed to it in a chemical spill for example. They aren't geared towards assessing less obvious effects (ie you wouldn't know if you were walking round with a low sperm count, or that you may have conceived on that occasion were it not for that air freshener or perfume etc). The scientific evidence is clear that these things do have a meaningful effect however, and as you can't tell what exact ingredients are in any synthetic fragrance blend, then the best way is to avoid these altogether

So are natural fragrances ok then?

No, not exactly. Certain essential oils and natural fragrances are known to be disruptive to fertility and pregnancy too. The key thing here is ingredient transparency. You're much more likely to find this in natural products (though not always). Look for products that give you a full ingredient list- the plant oils should all be listed or named, so you know exactly what you're getting. Also, watch out for greenwashing claims such as "made with essential oils" or "made with natural fragrance". These are marketing terms usually used to conceal the fact that there's a small amount of natural fragrance and lots of synthetic fragrance as well. Unless it says "100% natural fragrance" or "100% essential oil fragrance" then avoid.

OK, now we've cleared that up- what can I safely use while trying to get pregnant and while pregnant?

Top choices include:

Lavender

Chamomile

Frankincense

Geranium

Citrus

Rose (if not too strong)

Ylang Ylang (if not too strong)

OK occasionally/sparingly

Cardamom

Bergamot

Ginger (avoid altogether when trying to conceive)

What should I avoid?

Clary Sage

Rosemary

Peppermint

Cinnamon

Thyme

Oregano

Wintergreen

Basil

Fennel

What about fragrance quality?

Quality matters in any essential oil- high purity levels and independent certifications are helpful in ensuring reduced toxins and trace pesticides etc- all of which can be harmful in fertility and pregnancy. These ingredients are also more expensive as they only use the highest quality plants, are carefully processed, and there is an audit trail and lots of paperwork to complete to prove it!

What about the first trimester?

In the first 12 weeks of pregnancy, it's generally recommended to avoid skin contact with all fragranced products, as there's a theoretical risk that there is some absorption through the skin that may make it across the placenta to the fetus. Clearly the risk is low, but fragranced massage oils or body lotions used regularly may increase the likelihood of this.

Can natural fragrance help me get pregnant or improve the health of my pregnancy?

Short answer, no, not really- be cautious of anything or anyone claiming they can. There are no fragranced products on the market that have been clinically trialled and proven that they can increase fertility or healthy pregnancies.

However, what we do know is that certain plant extracts and essential oils can have a positive impact on mood, positivity, relaxation and stress relief. We also know that stress and anxiety can have a negative impact on fertility and fetal health.

Using a pregnancy and fertility-safe aromatherapy product as part of your relaxation ritual or incorporating this into your wellness time is proven to help reduce stress and anxiety- so if stress and anxiety are features in your life, then considering ways to enhance your personal relaxation and wellness time is likely to be a helpful thing.

So go on then, tell me about your fragrance

We're glad you asked! We've developed Astín to be not only safe in fertility and pregnancy, but exceptionally high quality, and with a great blend of therapeutic and stress-relieving benefits

The fragrance is a pure blend of

Certified organic bourbon rose geranium (anxiety and stress relief, uplifting)

Wild harvested Moroccan chamomile (calming and emotional wellbeing)

English lavender (improved sleep, reduces anxiety)

Certified organic ylang ylang (improved mood, aphrodisiac effects)

Certified organic wild harvested frankincense (improved sleep, grounding, reduces anxiety)

The fragrance is vegan, and in candle format is paired with our all-natural wax blend made with British rapeseed oil and certified organic coconut

And of course, as all Kyrra products, we've taken incredible care sourcing our oils to benefit poor communities and preserve enviromental stewardship. Our rose geranium and ylang ylang are sourced from Madagascar, and our frankincense from Somalia.

I hope you've found this article useful, and if you have any questions, comments or additions requested please do let me know and I'm happy to update or respond!

Have a great week

Ben