So, you want to know is okay to be waxing while pregnant?
Hold on….. Wheres my manners
You’re pregnant. First off. Congratulations!!!!
But now you have a big problem. No. I’m not talking about your tummy that’s growing. I’m talking about shaving down below. Removing all that hair in your pubic region.
Now you’re pondering should you shave while pregnant or get a wax while pregnant. Decisions, Decisions!! Every try to wax during your entire pregnancy?
What about waxing during your 1st trimester? It’s not that difficult. But let’s get to the 2nd or 3rd trimester. It can be quite difficult. And if you’re not the waxing type and want to shave or vice versa.
Then this article can do you some service. Alright. Let’s get to it.
First off, is it even safe to get a wax while pregnant, what about waxing during pregnancy 1st trimester?
So, the first trimester lasts from the 1st week all the way up until week 12. But generally speaking, waxing is safe for any trimester.
Doesn’t matter.
Pregnant women do it regularly. But when you get to your third trimester it may become a little difficult and more painful than the others. I get mines done at the salon.
So, if you want to go to a salon to get yours, make sure to tell the beauticians that you are pregnant, and they will go about the procedure a little gentler than if you weren’t pregnant.
The reason you want to tell them is because being in the 1st trimester it can be difficult to tell when a woman is pregnant or not.
You may run into some problems as far as your skin’s sensitivity. Your skin may not be able to handle the heat of the wax. Also, just to tell you, it’ll probably be really difficult for you to find a beautician that will wax during your 3rd trimester.
Simply because you’re close to that delivery time.
What are some reasons why a woman can’t shave while pregnant?
There are a few reasons as to why a woman can’t shave while pregnant. The number 1 reason in my book is the fact the belly gets bigger and now we can’t bend over, let alone see what’s down there.
Once you’re around the 30 – 34-week mark, it’s over. That belly is huge, for some it’s bigger and for others it’s smaller. Your feet and vagina are no longer visible. So, how are you going to shave down there?
Even the 23- 28-week mark can be difficult for some. So, yeah, bending over and can’t see are the reasons why a woman can’t shave while pregnant.
Are women allowed to shave while pregnant?
Yes, you can. This is like the “can you wax while pregnant question.” I think the question is mostly about HOW you will go about doing it.
That question makes the difference because if your about 38 weeks pregnant and can’t really see below your stomach then it’ll be difficult.
Therefore, tour tummy will make struggling with shaving your legs or your vagina A PAIN IN YOUR ASS. You’ll need to enlist the help of your spouse, friend or family member.
Most likely your spouse will help out. He should!
Can you shave your stomach while pregnant?
Yeah, of course. Sometimes when women get pregnant, they can get really uncomfortable and self-conscious. I know I did.
The linea nigra, which you can notice because it’s like a long line of hair the travels from the belly button all the way down to your pubic bone.
Now that you’re pregnant it can look a bit thick and you’ll probably notice it a bit more of it because of the pregnancy. So, if you want you can shave it.
I wrote this guide on how to shave the hair off your stomach. In it, it has a few details to shaving the hair off that pregnant belly.
But in case you don’t want to head over right at the moment and most of the information is for shaving the stomach and the chest.
I’ll talk about the way you should shave a pregnant stomach right here.
How can you shave your pregnant belly?
I never exfoliate the skin or anything like that. As long as I have been shaving my stomach, I never got any sort of razor bumps or anything like that.
And I don’t think you’ll have to trim any hair off your stomach. What you want to do is…
Lather up with your shaving cream, gel, or oil.
- Get your razor
- Glide it across your skin
- The key is to use very light pressure, short strokes, and it’s even more important that you go slow.
- Rinse and repeat until hair is gone.
Can you shave your legs while pregnant?
Yeah. Of course, you can. But you may run into some trouble depending on how many months you are into your pregnancy. If you’re in the later months of your pregnancy, then you might find it hard to reach your lower legs or even see your thighs and where the blade is going.
Your belly might be so big that you can reach down there. Your pubic area is a lot closer to you than your legs are. So, if you have trouble shaving your vagina, shaving your legs will be more difficult.
Yes, you can. I know that when I was pregnant, I love to go to the salon and get it done. My husband would try but since he doesn’t have a vagina or anything like that, it made it difficult to get the hair removed.
I tell him to yank it off, he wouldn’t yank it off. I would tell him to warm the wax to a certain temperature, he let get too hot. Then we tried to use sugar wax, but he couldn’t cook it right.
Or when he did get it right and tried to use the wax on me, he didn’t take it off me properly, so the only option was to either trim it myself or wax it. To the salon, I went.
Can you shave pubic area while pregnant?
This is sort of a grey area because some doctors and even nurses would be against this. Not really much to do with hurting the baby.
But I think the biggest concern is an infection.
Years ago, nurses would shave your private area for you. And it wasn’t a problem. It was actually a recommendation or suggestion by your doctors and nurses.
Why can’t you shave while pregnant & are you even supposed to shave while pregnant?
As up above, it’s a grey area. Nowadays it’s a big no-no. Today you’ll most likely find in a doctor’s office warnings or posters all over the place displaying that woman SHOULD NOT shave their pubes after 36 weeks.
The reason for this is because of the chances of getting an infection, especially for those that end up with getting a C-section.
And if you think about it shaving is not the safest way to remove hair from your pubic area. Because it involves a razor.
How many times have YOU cut yourself shaving? A few times or a lot. Have you ever got an infection down there because you shaved?
Realistically you have a small chance of getting an infection from clipping, using hair removal creams, or just saying “to hell with it” and going natural.
But did you know that it was the recommendation among doctors and nurses? It used to be the thing to do.
So, what happened? Around 2015, some study was published in the Journal of Hospital Infection. This study aimed to update the medical field on research on hair removal and incidence of surgical site infection.
So, yeah, a little ironic. Hospitals would shave it for you. I wonder if that would add to the bill or was a free service?
Before that little update in Journal of Hospital Infection, it was the belief that shaving your pubes before labor can reduce your risk of getting an infection.
Another reason I’ve found as to why nurses would shave your pubic hairs before childbirth is because it was the thought that it would make your childbirth more hygienic.
See, sometimes an episiotomy is made during childbirth. And removing pubic hair would decrease the chance of infection once it was made.
And it was believed that it could also be of use when in caesarean delivery.
Bottom line: you can shave, its safe.
But not recommend because of the possibility of getting razor bumps and a few nicks and ticks that can get infected also. But being pregnant doesn’t ramp up the chance of getting infected. Not at all.
Is It be embarrassing when you don’t shave your pubes before labor?
Not at all. The hospital team that is assisting you is not there to worry about that. Although I remember when I was pregnant, I would make jokes about it and the nurses would joke along with me.
Jokes about how I would be growing a forest down here. Even before then I was a little worried about how some of the nurses would feel to see a big bush down there.
But it’s a waste of energy. Doctors are there for your health and the health of your baby. You can groom it if you feel like, but it probably shouldn’t be with a razor.
Nurses are mostly women and they’ll understand about you and the need to shave your pubes or even wax during your pregnancy.
What do you think is the best way to remove hair during pregnancy?
The two that come to mind are the two that I use are trimming and waxing. Depilatory creams frighten me to death simply because of the chemicals being used in them.
And what would happen if they were to be absorbed into my skin and if it would hurt my unborn child?
See, the thing is there is no research for this, so, your mind runs wild with all type of thoughts. Shaving is on my no-go list simply because of the risk of cutting myself.
Don’t get me wrong I tried and did it a few times while I was pregnant, but I loved the ease and simplicity of trimming and waxing.
Trimming is great because it’s like a lazy way of removing hair. At least that’s what I think.
Some of the name brand trimmers come with a blade guard. It’s similar to the ones being used in a barber’s store. It allows you to cut your hair to a certain size. So yeah, I use that.
And waxing because I get to have someone else do it for me. And it’s fast and actually provides that smooth feel down there. Plus, you have a good amount of time till the hair grows back.
Ways to shave while pregnant
3 ways I would recommend
Waxing/sugaring
- It is the preferred method when you have heated wax spread over your skin, pressed down into the skin to attach to the hair follicles, then a white wrap is placed on top of it and quickly yanked off. Removing all the hair and leaving only skin. Sugaring is a good option also. It includes a recipe to make the wax. Water, sugar, and lemon, that’s it. You roll it on your skin and flick off. It some instances it’s not as painful as hot wax and the cleanup is easier.
Hair removal cream
- Or depilatory creams as their called in the hair removal industry. These use certain chemicals that eat or dissolve the hair follicle and removes it. It only removes the hair follicle from the surface of the skin on up. But not below as waxing does. Waxing gets it in the root.
Electric trimmer
- The best one. Electric trimmers can sometimes have guards on them. You can put a guard on it, turn it on. And run it across your skin. It won’t remove hair like a razor would, or even depilatory creams and waxing. But it’ll leave some stubble behind which is a lot better than a forest.
How do I shave my pubic hairs while I’m pregnant?
Now let’s say you still want shave down there, even though you know the risks. Here’s how I would shave my vagina when I was pregnant?
Two ways.
1st
You can get some else to do the dirty work. Meaning, have your family member (weird), friend, or your spouse to do it for you. Your boyfriend or husband. Most likely it’ll be your spouse that ends up cutting away those pubic hairs.
2nd
You can get a mirror with a stand attached to it. Or a pregnancy mirror, one that attaches to your inner thigh (This is the way I shaved while I was pregnant.)
You can get the Schick Intuition razors. It’s sort of a specialty razor. These types of razors come with a big piece of soap that is located around the razor.
I didn’t have a hard time shaving with it. In fact, sometimes I would shave it without looking which is expected. But with this, you don’t really need any shaving foam because I was in the shower while I was using it.
- Then you want to shave your vagina in the direction your hair grows. It’s called going with the grain.
- You want to pull the skin taut above your vagina or on the sides. It creates a flat surface (something that the blade needs in order to cut properly.)
- When you start to shave, use only shorts strokes, don’t press down on the blade too hard. Let the blade do its work. Work in small parts and don’t go too fast.
Don’t want to shave then you can use a bikini trimmer. The one I have had about three settings. It’s like ones the barber uses.
I like to set mines to the shortest setting and just run it over my vagina. There should be a guard on the blade also. The guards are there to prevent you from cutting yourself. The shortest setting comes close to a shave given by a razor but not as close.
How to shave legs while pregnant?
I’m going to assume that your belly is big, and you can’t really bend over. So, the only way for you to do this is to follow my new method of shaving my legs. Or you can get one of those razor extenders that is specifically made for people that are either pregnant or injured.
- Okay. So, my way may involve some flexibility. So, if you’re not flexible. What I do is get down on the ground. I’ll choose one leg. So, I’ll start with my right leg. I’ll be sitting on the floor and bend my right leg backward. See!!!
- My legs are right near my arm and are in reachable distance. Then I’ll lather up with some shaving cream, gel, or oil. Then start shaving. Now only the back of my leg (the calf muscle) is exposed. And a side of the right leg is reachable
- So, in order to get the left side or the front side of it. I’ll move my leg and bend it in front of my stomach.
- Now the left side of my right leg (since this is the leg I’m working on first) is exposed.
- Lather up with some shaving cream and start shaving.
Are there any benefits to shaving pubic hair throughout your entire pregnancy?
- The cleanly shaved vagina can increase the view of the gynecologist. In case the doctor wants to make sort of interventions like when you have to use forceps during the childbirth. It would be better if there was just a little bit of hair and not a forest down there
- Pubic hair is the home for microbe infestation. So, keeping the area clean can decrease any chance of infection.
- Removing your pubes can stop any infection from reaching your unborn baby. Microbes love pubic hair, so keeping it can transfer infections to the baby.
- Sometimes you can have excessive bleeding after you’ve finished delivering your baby. The excess blood can stick to your pubic hairs and this can make it difficult to wash off later.
Now on to the risks
- If you’re not careful while shaving. You can get even more infections. I believe I wrote about this up above but when you shave, you’re basically exfoliating. You run the risk of getting a cut. The cut can start an infection. An infection can cause problems in your pubic region. Even more of a problem if you’re are pregnant. Further Reading: Shaving nicks and ticks
- When the hair starts to grow again it will itch the hell out of you. It’s not a good feeling.
- Not shaving the right way. Then expect ingrown hairs. The hair starts to grow inside the skin then very painful bumps are visible.
- Razor bumps can make the vagina very sensitive to touch. This can be painful during childbirth. I remember when my sister had a bunch of razor bumps around her vagina. I remember during her childbirth the doctor was touching all around her vagina and I can see the grimace on her face. Now she had to deal with childbirth and the painful razor bumps.
Is it necessary to bend over to shave while pregnant?
This is the worse part. When you’re almost ready to drop, that belly will get in the way.
So, I don’t know how you would be able to shave since you won’t be able to see.
You should either look for some help, a friend (that you trust) or your spouse. But bending over is a no-no.
Wax while pregnant or shave while pregnant, which one is best?
I would select waxing just because it has no side effect that can be harmful. Or should I say as harmful as shaving?
Shaving, you can cut yourself and provide bacteria with a home to build and thrive in. Waxing is just as simple as 1,2,3.
So, wax if you can. Find a good salon too. Because trying it by yourself is nearly impossible.
That big belly will prevent you from seeing what’s down there and prevent you from seeing what you’re doing down there. And your skin will be very sensitive down there and that is expected since you’re pregnant.
So, go see a professional if you decide to wax it.
If you have the luxury of having a nurse shave your pubic hairs for you then consider these next tips.
- Don’t feel embarrassed by the fact that you have your nurse or midwife doing this for you. Because regardless of what the Journal of Infection states on shaving, there are a few hospitals that still do this and a few midwives that do this also.
- Make sure that they are using a new razor. It should be opened in front of you.
- Feel any pain, then let the midwife know or tell your nurse to stop. Remember shaving causes cuts and cuts can lead to infection.
When is the right time to shave for a pregnant woman?
Whether you’re having a cesarean or a normal childbirth, doctors would tell you not to shave seven days before your due date.
Waxing is included in that also. Don’t do it. But regardless of the “right time” to shave, women still remove their pubic hairs whenever they want and however, they want.
But when you decide to take that plunge, just be careful not to cut yourself.
Is there such thing as a safe hair removal cream that I can use during pregnancy?
It is considered to be a safe product to use even when you’re pregnant. But the mixture of chemicals being used in order to dissolve the hair can enter your bloodstream.
And it may affect your unborn baby in a significant way. So that’s the only thing you would have to worry about.
Your skin is the largest organ you have on your body and it absorbs a lot. If you’re a huge fan of using those depilatory creams. Then it may get in your bloodstream.
So, be careful about using them. I know in your 1st trimester you probably want to avoid any and all chemicals since the fetus goes through several changes in its development.
But then you can wait till you’re around your 2nd or 3rd trimester. During this period the risks are lessened.
Also, another thing to keep in mind is the smell. I know when I was pregnant my sense of smell kicked into overdrive.
And depilatory creams are known for their harsh smell. Since you’re pregnant it can result in you having headaches and feeling of nausea.
Is it safe to use a trimmer during pregnancy?
Yes, of course. It would be better for you to use a trimmer than a razor or even result to wax. I always trim my pubic hairs. I stopped shaving a long time ago. The best part about it is that I can’t cut myself.
My trimmers have guards on it that cut your hair to a certain length. I just put my guard on it and run my hand along my vagina. And you know what, I don’t even look at where I’m going or what I’m doing.
I trust the trimmer and the blade guard. It’s the best.
What is a pregnancy mirror and how can it help you with shaving?
It’s basically a mirror specifically made for pregnant women and need/want to shave their pubic hairs.
The mirror is a round circular shaped mirror that usually straps to your thigh with the mirror facing your vagina. And It allows you to see what you’re shaving. No bending over required.
The mirror isn’t only for pregnant women, it can be used by an obese and elderly woman also. They usually can rotate 360 degrees and can flip down or up to give you good visibility.
Conclusion: Okay, so now it’s time to finish this off. If you are pregnant or plan to get pregnant and you are worrying about waxing during your 1st trimester or maybe even after (that’s when your belly starts to get in the way), then you should consider trimming.
Get a pregnancy mirror or the best option is to have your boyfriend / dear husband do the dirty work for you. Shaving can be dangerous but many people still do regardless of the risks.
Trimming and waxing are probably your best go-to options. Have fun and remember when you shave to go slow with the strokes and don’t put too much pressure on the blade.
But waxing while pregnant would be my preferred method of hair removal since when you wax the hair will take some time to grow back.
Further reading: I know you may be thinking of other permanent choices for hair removal. Choices such as IPL or laser hair removal. You can check out my article where I talk about the potential effects IPL hair removal can have on your baby.
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