You certainly don't want to come down with anything at this time because of the baby; but is it possible that the insect pest control methods that you use could be possibly even more harmful for the health of your unborn baby than the pests themselves? That's what obstetricians are beginning to warn expecting mothers of. If you are expecting a baby boy, active ingredients in repellents, such as DEET, can cause untold damage.The research itself was something that was done in England. They surveyed the mothers of about 500 babies born with hypospadias and asked about the kind of insect pest control measures they had taken while pregnant. The answers they received were pretty clear - use bug sprays, and you take on an 80% risk that your baby boys might be born with a short urethra, which is what hypospadias is.
And if that isn't bad enough, using commonly available bug sprays and repellents for insect pest control can cause miscarriage, premature delivery and a number of other problems. So what are your alternatives? You can hardly choose to just wing it and risk getting an ineffective product, no could you? What if you got bitten by an infected mosquito? Let's look at a few harmless natural alternatives, and also at some products that are advertised as effective with insect pest control, but are in fact of doubtful worth.
Soybean oil is the king of all natural mosquito repellents. You could either choose to use a readily available product that uses a little bit of this kitchen ingredient for up to four hours of protection, or you could use the oil directly to your skin. Soy oil works longer and harder than extra strength DEET.
Oil of lemon eucalyptus is a great repellent, that is particularly recommended by the CDC for effectively keeping away some disease-infested mosquitoes. The great thing is, it works for a couple of hours longer will each application than you could expect with a chemical repellent. However, don't be tempted to use this oil by itself. Make sure that you buy a product that contains a small quantity of it. That's the most effective way to achieve insect pest-control with oil of lemon eucalyptus.
Now in your quest to zero in on the safest products out there, could you possibly throw the baby out with the bathwater? As it would happen, you could, with ideas like these: Vitamin B, wristbands impregnated with repellents, germanium plants and bugs zappers. These are dangerous ideas; not because they don't work at all, but because they work partially. When people who aren't informed enough about the nature of these products go get them to protect their families with, they can easily try to look on the positive side of them, and continue to use them for what little they do. And this makes them even worse than complete quackery.