Is giving up on retouching the color of your roots, doing coloring, highlighting or highlights just unthinkable for you? But is this reasonable when you are pregnant or is there a risk for the baby? Johanna Janku, obstetrician-gynecologist and Soraia da Silva Oliveira, hairdresser, shed light on the subject.
Johanna Janku is an obstetrician-gynecologist and founder of Oh Yes Baby Yes, a sex and couples therapy practice.
Soraia da Silva Oliveira is a hairdresser at Allure Cosmetics and Hair in Zurich.
“I don’t recommend doing a full bleach or recoloring the roots during pregnancy,” says Soraia da Silva Oliveira. According to her, hair bleaching is a very aggressive treatment. On contact with the scalp, the bleaching product can be irritating to the skin and the chemicals it contains can enter the body. In general, the hairdresser takes care to limit the dose of hydrogen peroxide used as much as possible, even in women who are not pregnant. “6% is the absolute maximum,” she specifies.
But what are the alternatives? “A lot of my clients transition to highlights or balayage while pregnant, so the bleaching product doesn’t come into contact with the scalp. So that’s no problem,” she says.
Soraia da Silva Oliveira nevertheless wishes to point out that to date, there is no scientific proof of the risk of harm from hair dyes for the fetus. A large number of her clients continue to dye their hair during pregnancy. “Today, many hair color products are ammonia-free, making the treatment even safer and less irritating to the scalp,” she explains.
An opinion shared by the gynecologist. “I consider the risk of hair coloring during pregnancy to be low. Certainly, there is little reliable data on this subject. But we know that the composition of chemicals is different and less aggressive than a few decades ago,” she says. If some of her colleagues advise against dyes for pregnant women, she sees no reason to do so. On the other hand, “if the patient feels a great need for security, I recommend against it as a precautionary measure during pregnancy and breastfeeding,” she says.
If dyeing doesn’t give you peace of mind, but you don’t want to give up changing your hair color entirely, why not opt for coloring? “With coloring, we play it safe, because it only deposits the color on the surface of the hair, without penetrating inside its structure,” explains Soraia da Silva Oliveira. Henna colorings generally do not contain chemicals either, although they may contain pesticides, depending on the region where the henna is grown.
What pregnancy-related issues are worrying you?
