Like many women when they find out they’re pregnant, I went to Google, baby apps and social media to find information about pregnancy. One of the first things I noticed was the long list of things to avoid or change in your daily routine, but nonetheless, I avoided raw fish, made sure to heat up deli meat and capped my caffeine intake at one cup of coffee. I never gave a thought to chemicals or potential toxins that were lurking in my deodorant and other beauty products until I was at the end of my first trimester.

While discussing pregnancy with another friend who was expecting, she told me she was looking for a natural deodorant that actually worked. I probed her on why she had switched to a natural deodorant, and she told me she had done some research and was worried about some of the ingredients in traditional deodorants, most notably aluminum.

I hadn’t heard anything about this from my OBGYN or on my apps, but after our conversation, I started to dig in and do my own research. I immediately saw a lot of search results that mentioned aluminum and breast cancer, which stood out to me since my mom is a two-time breast cancer survivor. As I started to read content, it was hard to pare down the facts and understand the true risks, ultimately because there was a ton of conflicting information online about the risks of aluminum.

But as I started to read more, I came across other ingredients, like parabens and phthalates which had links to hormone disruption and negative effects on gut health. It was at this point that I made up my mind. There were enough potential or suggested harmful effects from these ingredients to convince me that it wasn’t worth the risk to my baby or myself. I ultimately decided I didn’t have anything to lose by switching.

Once I decided to switch, I spent a month or two testing different options. There was definitely an adjustment period for me, and it took me trying three or four different brands to find one that both worked and had a pleasing smell and texture.

It’s now two years later and I still use natural deodorant today. Over the past couple months, I switched from Native to Each + Every as I became more concerned about synthetic fragrances. I love that there are only eight simple ingredients and that the product has been rated as safe by the Environmental Working Group. You can’t beat performance and safety!

Ultimately, whether you make the switch to natural deodorant during pregnancy is up to you. I recommend doing your own research and deciding what you’re comfortable with based on what you’ve read. If you'd like to try Each & Every, you can shop all of our great scents below.