A brief overview of cosmeceutical skincare during pregnancy

Patients who fall pregnant are usually aware that there are many things they are advised not to do while pregnant. They are aware that, during pregnancy, they should not drink alcohol, eat raw fish or fly in their third trimester. However, the day that the author had a new patient contact them to ask whether she could have her toxin topped up and purchase a 1% retinol cream before her baby was due, they realised that aesthetic practitioners have some educating to do.

Aesthetic practitioners and medical professionals are aware that injectables cannot be administered to pregnant patients. They are also aware that there are limitations to the ingredients that can be used in skincare products prescribed to these patients. However, the patients themselves are often in the dark about the fact that they will have to give up retinols and stronger systemic ingredients until after they finish breastfeeding.

Therefore, for patients expecting the ‘pregnancy glow’, the changes to their skin caused by pregnancy and the associated limitations for practitioners in regard to tools to treat these changes, can often come as a shock. In the author's 30 years of treating skin, unfortunately, this glow has been found to be a bit of a myth. This often impacts a patient's self-esteem, and when factoring in the emotional changes also associated with pregnancy, some patients can begin to look at this time as a negative experience in terms of more than just their skin. However, patients expect continuity of care from their providers, including their aesthetic practitioners. Medical practitioners have a duty of care, and it is, therefore, imperative for aesthetic practitioners with pregnant patients to understand how to treat the skin during this time period, while avoiding anything that has the potential to cause harm to the foetus.