Do you want to do everything possible to have the healthiest pregnancy and baby? My patients typically answer with an enthusiastic “yes!”
“Do you want grandbabies someday?” My patients usually pause, look at me inquisitively, and then say, “I/we haven’t thought about that yet.”
To put it in perspective, what a couple chooses to do three months prior to conception through the entire pregnancy can influence not only the child being grown but also their chance for grandchildren. Many do not consider the impact their actions will have on their children’s children and beyond. This isn’t about environmental changes, though we could work on that as a society too, but the potential to have grandchildren is influenced by what you do before and while pregnant.
When you consider having a baby, shifting the “self-first” mindset and considering the health and well-being of the growing human within is essential. Women have the remarkable ability to put aside many things they desire during pregnancy – for example, deli meat, soft cheeses, and alcohol, to ensure their baby remains healthy. This is a wonderful gift we give our growing babies – prevention by avoiding what has known side effects or increases negative outcomes.
The unfortunate thing about what we consume as pregnant women is we don’t always hear what long-term effect is associated with many commonly consumed products. You aren’t told about the side effects and negative impact they will have on the future health of your children.
Three commonly consumed and marketed as safe-in-pregnancy products can potentially alter your child’s reproductive system, making it difficult for them to become pregnant and for you to become a grandparent.
1. Caffeine
The most popular pharmacologically active substance consumed in the world. It is a stimulant that is often used to enhance mental alertness. Drinking caffeinated beverages has been implicated in fertility struggles, and if consumed while pregnant, has been associated with the following conditions in the child:
- Increased risk of miscarriage
- Obesity of offspring as an adult
- Congenital malformations
- Fetal growth restriction
- Stillbirth
- Long-term behavioral effects in offspring
- Diminished ovarian reserve
- Decreased sperm density
- Decreased % of motile sperm
Caffeine can accumulate in fetal tissues and produce diverse pharmacologic effects that could interfere with fetal growth and development. Male and female children have higher infertility rates as adults when exposed to caffeine in utero.
Altered brain wiring, leading to obesity as adults, has been shown in babies exposed to caffeine. Reducing your intake to less than 200 mg per day, or better, none, is the best way to avoid these potential negative results for your baby.
2. Acetaminophen (APAP)
Widely considered safe in pregnancy, this Category B medication has been over-the-counter for less than 62 years (less than three generations). Though two-thirds of pregnant American women use APAP, most commonly known as Tylenol, more and more studies are showing the detriment of this substance on the health of the offspring when taken in early pregnancy. Potential adverse outcomes seen in children as a result of their mother’s acetaminophen use:
- Autism
- ADHD
- Congenital disabilities
- Low birth weight
- Preterm birth
- Ovarian fertility concerns
- Decreased follicular (egg) reserve
- Low testosterone levels
- Malformation of penis
- Undescended testicles (increasing infertility and future cancer risk)
Knowing that these conditions are elevated in children exposed to APAP prenatally, there needs to be a more extensive investigation into the extent this impact has across generations to ensure long-term adverse effects can be identified and avoided.
Research is showing how the use of this medication is altering the genetics of the offspring, negatively impacting the hormone profiles and future fertility potential of the offspring. Could the last 62 years of unregulated use of acetaminophen be a reason for the increased infertility seen now?
A critical concluding sentence in a 2022 article from the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology Medicine titled “Acetaminophen (APAP, Paracetamol) Interferes with the First Trimester Human Fetal Ovary Development in an Ex Vivo Model” explains the most crucial piece of information when considering taking APAP while pregnant: “Overall, APAP behaves as an endocrine disruptor in the fetal human ovary.”
3. Plastic Bisphenol A and Bisphenol S
BPA and BPS are also known as endocrine disruptors, meaning they alter hormone production and receptor function, where hormones influence cell function. They are polycarbonate resins mainly used for plastic bags, bottles, and packaging, water and milk bottles, coated tins, particularly food and drink cans, and microwave-safe plastics.
As stated in the Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology article “Bisphenol A: an emerging threat to female fertility” from March 2020, “experimental studies suggested that prenatal, perinatal and postnatal exposure to BPA can impair several steps of ovarian development, induce ovarian morphology rearrangement and impair ovarian function, particularly folliculogenesis, as well as can impair uterus morphology and function, in female adult animal and OFFSPRING.”
The article also notes both endometriosis-like lesions and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
presentations increased after BPA exposure.
Among other things, endometriosis can cause painful periods with heavy bleeding, pain during sex or when having a bowel movement or urinating, and may even result in difficulty in becoming pregnant.
Women with PCOS may not ovulate and may have small cysts on their ovaries. PCOS can also cause missed or irregular periods, excess hair growth, acne, infertility, and weight gain.
Fortunately, BPA was removed from baby bottles and sippy cups in 2012, but did these products increase endometriosis and PCOS risk in girls prior to this removal?
As for male offspring, BPA and BPS exposure in utero alters sperm maturation and sperm quality, decreasing fertility as an adult male.
To avoid exposure to these chemicals, skip microwaving anything in plastic, regardless if
your veggies or frozen dinners come in a microwavable-safe package. It is microwave safe because it won’t melt – not that it won’t cause cellular harm. Skip take-out food too, as these containers are lined with BPA/S. So is your to-go coffee cup—reason #2 to skip the caffeine.
With fertility struggles on the rise, it is imperative to identify and expose the actual impact commonly used substances are having on our future generations’ ability to conceive. Acknowledging that products we commonly use may not be as safe as always believed is a hard pill to swallow, pun intended. But a pill that needs to be swallowed if we want to see a change and improvement in the future of fertility.
Dr. Nicole Kerr, ND, LAc, operates an all-natural fertility clinic in Wallingford, CT, Fertility Oasis. At Fertility Oasis, Dr. Kerr teaches her patients the importance of preconception care and all treatment options available to couples struggling to conceive. Male and female infertility factors are addressed by Dr. Kerr to offer comprehensive fertility care to her patients.
Fertility Oasis, 857 N Main St Ext Suite 1, Wallingford CT, 203.265.0459.
www.fertilityoasis.com