Pregnancy Signs & Symptoms, Week by Week Pregnancy Guide

A lot of women notice that they feel like redecorating the house, knock down walls, paint rooms  and scrape down the old wallpaper while being pregnant. Maybe this has something to do with the nesting instinct.

When it comes to painting during pregnancy you should go ahead, but make sure that you use a water based paint and that you keep the windows open.

Make sure that you don’t use oil based paints that were produced before 1990. This is because in that period these paints had added mercury to preserve the paint. You should throw out any old paint that you have lying around.

Precautions when choosing the paint

When buying paint you should ask the salesperson whether it has any mercury. This is important because the fetus is very sensitive to the fumes of the mercury-laced paints.

In extreme cases exposure could lead to mercury poisoning that causes tremors, mental retardation, liver and kidney diseases and seizures in case of the baby.

If you would like to paint while being pregnant you should check the label of the paint for MBK or M-butyl ketone. If it is present, don’t use the paint. If you inhale this chemical, it could lead to neurological problems of the baby.

Further care

In the same time it is important not to inhale the fumes of polyurethane paints that make the floors so shiny. It is important not to work with chemicals of this kind in spray form and after the job is done you should keep all windows open for a day.

If you are working with moveable objects, it is best to work in the open air. If you would like to do some pregnancy painting and you have to clean the brushes, it is important not to use liquid paint removers and turpentine because the fumes are toxic.