Pregnancy and Lampworking

[Zooziis]

I'm interested in any possible concerns of lampworking while pregnant.

I'm not interested in "I did and it was fine", I know that is likely the case for many, and have heard that many times already.

I'm looking for reasons it might not be safe and any precautions that should be taken.

Thank you!
Amy

[bergina]

Amy -

I can't tell you I did it and I was fine, or point you in the direction of anything solid in terms of recommendations. I just delivered 8 weeks ago, which is part of the reason I have been basically off-forum for almost a year now.

I found out I was pregnant with #4 right after I did my second show last year after just starting lampworking and setting up a home-studio. I took the first three months off to be safe and to get my ventilation as up to snuff as I could without putting it through the measurements & testing that Vince discusses as being the only real way to be sure the system is 100%. I searched the archives (you have to actually go to a different search screen to do the archives as opposed to the forum - if you need help with that let me know).

Well, after the 3 months went by, life happened - got busy with the other three kids and never got back on the torch until I got into a Kristina Logan class at the last minute and panicked since I had been off so long and was really only a beginner anyway. So at about 34 weeks, I spent about a couple hours at home and then 16 hours in the class, on the torch.

Before life happened, I had decided not to ask my midwives for an opinion since it would take so much to make them understand it and since from a malpractice standpoint (I was a malpractice defense lawyer) what they should and likely would, do would be to tell me not to do it since there is no evidence that it is safe. I then set the following boundaries for myself:

1. Nothing for the first 12 weeks.
2. Nothing until the ventilation is in place.
3. No metals, enamels, frit, pixie dust because the exposure control for fumes and small particles is harder.

Let me know if I can help in anyway. And congrats.

bergina

PS If you are going to the Gathering, let me know. We can eat lunch together or something - my baby is coming with me cross-country!

[Zooziis]

Thank you for the info. I was going to the Gathering, but due to the nausea I'm skipping it. I'm sad to miss it, but it's a Happy reason. Congratulations on your little person!

I have good ventilation, but all I use is frits and enamels...

This is not the greatest sacrifice I'll make for this little person... If anyone has anymore to share I'm still interested in safety thoughts.

Thank you,
Amy

[dichro_baby]

No info on the lampworking... I just wanted to say congrats to Bergina on your new little one, and to Amy on your upcoming bundle of joy!

[ljl561]

Yea Amy! Congrats!
My advice ... be more cautious than you think you should be, because you don't ever, EVER, want to have a single regret!

Elise

[Emmettsglass]

When my wife found out she was pregnant she stopped coming out into my shop and has stayed off the torch since. Our boy is healthy and will be 4 months in a few days.
I do have exelent ventalation but we didn't want to take chances.
E

[KarenBye]

Hi,

I was also (not making any of these occupations up, by the way) an OB nurse for 6 1/2 years. Please don't take any chances you can discern. If you're asking the question, you usually already know the answer.

The problem is most things that will pass into your blood, will pass into the placenta, then, once inside, the little one's systems will try to clean it up. But if the chemical (or the chemical's partially broken down byproduct) can be urinated, it can be swallowed, and the little ones swallow continuously. In many ways, it's a closed system. So the little one has to deal with an abuse not once, but many, many times.

That said, statistics don't give you the full picture. If, for example, 98% of the time every thing goes just fine (and it usually does), but, if you are in the 2% category, the odds are actually 100% and 0%. It is slim comfort that 98% of the people do not have your outcome.

So if it were my pregnancy, I would definitely follow Emmett's lead, and stay out of the studio. And during that time, do like Ofilia, write it all down, draw the pictures, record the color combinations in a notebook and then go back when it's safe for everyone.

Off of the soapbox! And by the way, congratulations! Enjoy every minute of these life experiences; the incredible wonder of a child moving inside of your body, knowing it is another person, soon to be part of your life forever!

Be safe.

K :-)

[Ofilia_Cinta]

Hi Amy, Karen, and all. This thread has been in the back of my thoughts for a while and I now want to add something.

Karen, You hit it right on the head, "If you are asking the question, you already know the answer ". Looking deep into your heart, indeed, the answer was always there.

I am going to openly share a worry I've tormented over for 27 years now. Back when I was pregnant, I was poor, single, young, stupid and desperate. I was working for a cottage industry rubber stamp company doing their wood work, vulcanizing rubber sheets (heating rubber in a hot press with billowing white smoke steaming out) and glueing with highly stinky (toxic no doubt) glues. I still have the physical scars on my hands from the glue that I'd accidently get on my skin. I did what I had to, to survive. I was ignorant to what these elements 'could' be doing to my unborn child (reference back to the "young & stupid" part).

Later, as I got older and learned more about the human body and pregnancy (yea, I've lived many things ass backwards....) I learned that during the different stages of pregnancy, different systems of the fetus are developing. It made me wonder if possibly it was my fault for my son developing respiratory problems later in his life? Did I directly contribute to his susceptibility? This is a very horrible guilt and irreversible decision I made.

My point is that regardless, say there is some scientific study out there that says, "Yes, lampworking under proper conditions is completely safe for your unborn fetus in 99 out of 100 cases" (there is alway a disclaimer to everything, no?). Be realistic, even with the odds against it, DO YOU REALLY WANT TO TAKE THE CHANCE OF NOT BEING IN THAT ONE PERCENT?

I've made this comment before. Right now you are in a stage of creating the greatest "bead" in your life (he takes 9 months to form and anneal)! Enjoy your pregnancy and all the wonders that come with it. I hope you have a supportive family to see you through any financial issues. Lampworking will wait for you.....


Sincerely,

Ofilia

[Vince]

Amy,

Here is a reference that you may be able to find in your local public library or local university library that may provide additional information to guide you in your pregnancy.

"Reproductive Hazards of the Workplace" by Linda M. Frazier and Marvin L Hage, ISBN 0-471-28698-2, Copyright 1998, 590 pages.

It is a very expensive book ($126.00), so I do not recommend that you purchase one and I am not certain it will provide any more information and advice than you have already received, but it might. It is a few years old, but this sort of information does not go out of date very rapidly, so I would expect it to be still current.

I am considering adding a copy to my personal library, but it is competing for limited funds along with other books more immediately useful for me.

Vince

[Mag_Alef]

{{{{{{{{{{Ofilia}}}}}}}}}}}}
The big hugs are because I sooo know where you're coming from. I have those guilty feelings from being young and ignorant, too.

I became pregnant with my third child shortly after my husband and I started a laminate cabinet business. For the first several months of pregnancy I spent every day in the shop while we worked with various glues, epoxies, and acetone. The glues were sprayed on, and I didn't wear a respirator.

In hindsight I should have never been there. But it was our new business and I didn't have the upper body strength to install those big cabinets. So I did what I could do, which was shop work.

Our son has a form of autism. We'll never know what caused it, but I'll always carry the burden with me that maybe it was because of those chemicals I worked with early in my pregnancy. Knowing what I do now, I wouldn't have risked it (although I still would have been exposed those first couple months before I realized I was pregnant).

So I have to agree with Ofilia about waiting to lampwork. The trade-off just isn't worth the risk, IMO.

Congratulations on your pregnancy, Amy!! And congrats to you, too, Bergina & Emmett!!

~Mag