At Belli we understand as a parent you would do anything to protect your baby... we share that vision.
Clincal studies show that what we put on our skin can be absorbed into the blood stream and onto baby.
With that in mind Belli Pregnancy is the only pregnancy skin care range in the world that teratology* screens each ingredients to guard against birth defects, miscarriage and fetul development concerns, providing the most luxurious skin care formulations for mum and the safest for her developing baby.
*te·rat·o·gen [tuh-rat-uh-juh n]: any substance capable of interfering with the fetus causing birth defects.
What does Belli exclude that makes it different?
We exclude all ingredients (chemical, natural or organic) that have shown up in published trials to have detremental effects at any dose, or by any method of exposure. At Belli we believe in removing any risks to your developing baby, no matter how small. Our unique screening and belief that "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" makes us the #1 pregnancy skin care recommended by Obstetricians.
But I did not use anything specific for my previous pregnancies and my mother and grandmother says there is nothing to worry about, so why should I be concerned?
Like with so many advances in science things are evolving daily and if we did not listen and learn from advances and new information then we would not have cures and developments for so many of diseases we see today. 50, 10, 5 even 1 year ago there was less information and research about so many areas of health and development. There was also very different and far fewer chemicals in skin care back in your mothers and grandmothers day.
But as research advances so does our understanding of environmental and external factors and the effect they can have on our body and on the development of those little bodies growing inside of us. The effects of so many teratogens may not be seen or understood until much later in life. They may be minimal and not even able to be detected to the human eye or they may be so extreme that the effects are seen straight after birth. 70% of birth defects come from unknown causes and we know that of those unknown causes, teratogens found in skin care play a part. At Belli we provide a choice to parents to reduce the unknown risks and to remove any causes from skin care ingredients. At Belli we give you a choice to reduce the risks without having to sacrifice beautiful skin.
Why would i need something specific for my skin and how will it change?
This is a time for you to glow, to feel the most beautiful you have ever felt. With pregnancy comes a whole new set of skin care concerns. Your skin will be drier than it normally is, you will be concerned about getting stretchmarks, your feet will swell, you may get pimples for the first time in your life and you will find your skin itchy and irritable. Belli provides clinically proven formulas that ensure you have beautiful skin care to manage these changes.
Due to the safety concerns of using a non teratology screened skin care during pregnancy, we recommend you switch out your routine to a full Belli routine during your pregnancy. In fact many of our mums continue with Belli well after their pregnancy, because they just loved the results!
What is Teratology? Teratology is the study of ingredients (whether chemical, organic or natural) known to be harmful to the developing fetus.
What are just a few examples of a teratogen that may be found in my current skin care?
Vitamin A and it's derivatives (retinol, retinoic acid, Retin-A, tretinoin, accutane, isotretinoin) are linked in human studies to neural crest defects1,2 and in animal studies to increased fetal death, craniofacial malformations, and cardiac malformations.3-1
Salicylic acid, a commonly used beta hydroxyacid, is linked to higher rates of fetal malformation and fetal death in animal studies.11,12
Caffeine is used topically to tighten the skin. Human studies show links between caffeine and increased rates of poor fetal growth, miscarriage, premature delivery, pre-eclampsia, and fetal/neonatal cardiac arrythmias.13-29
Aloe vera, known for its anti-irritant and wound healing properties, is linked to increased frequencies of embryonic death and skeletal anomalies in animal studies.30
Oxybenzone, a chemical sunscreen ingredient, is linked to reduced litter size in animal studies. It may also have harmful estrogenic effects.31,32
Coumarin is used on the skin as a natural, sweet-smelling, antioxidant but is linked to marked developmental delays in animal studies.33 A closely related derivative, warfarin, is linked in human studies to facial birth defects, abnormal bone formation, and growth retardation.34-37
Where does Belli find out which ingredients are teratogens?
We search through thousands of databases and work closely with OTIS and Our medical director works with the independent nonprofit C.A.R.E. Northwest (Counseling and Advice on Reproductive Exposures) to exclude ingredients even remotely linked to birth defects in the published medical literature, at any dose, from any method of exposure. A list of the databases and reference books used includes:
MEDLINE is the premiere biomedical database produced by the National Library of Medicine that contains more than 4000 international biomedical journals from 1966 to present.
TOXLINE is a comprehensive database produced by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and contains more than two million records that cover adverse drug reactions, carcinogenesis, drug evaluation, mutagenesis, pollution, pesticides, herbicides, radiation, teratogenesis, and all other aspects of toxicology from pre-1950 to the present.
DART is a bibliographic database on the National Library of Medicine’s Toxicology Data Network which covers teratology and other aspects of developmental and reproductive toxicology and contains over 100,000 references to literature published since 1965.
TERIS is a database of chemical agent summaries based on a thorough review of published clinical and experimental literature. Each summary includes a risk assessment derived by consensus of an Advisory Board comprising nationally-recognized authorities in clinical teratology.
Catalog of Teratogenic Agents (Shepard, 1992) is a comprehensive reference work that presents information on teratogenic agents, emphasizing human data and covering pharmaceuticals, chemicals, environmental pollutants, food additives, household products, and viruses. Also included are overviews of recent literature on clinical and experimental teratology, including important Japanese literature not easily available to English-language researchers.
Drugs in Pregnancy and Lactation: A Reference Guide to Fetal and Neonatal Risks(Briggs et al., 1994) provides practical, reliable information on more than 1,000 drugs that may be used by pregnant and lactating women. The recommendations help readers interpret animal and human pregnancy data to assess potential human risk when there are human data or the human data are limited or not available.
Chemically Induced Birth Defects (Schardein, 1993) addresses over 4100 drugs and chemicals in current use that cause malformations and congenital anomalies in the human fetus-- comprehensively reviewing experimental studies in animals and clinical data on human development, primarily in the organogenesis period.
References -
Werler MM, Lammer EJ, Rosenberg L, Mitchell AA: Maternal vitamin A supplementation in relation to selected birth defects. Teratology 42: 497-503, 1990.
2 Rothman KJ, Moore LL, Singer MR, et al.: Teratogenicity of high vitamin A intake. N Engl J Med 333(21):1369-1373,1995.
3 Hendrickx AG, Peterson P, Hartmann D, Hummier H: Vitamin A teratogenicity and risk assessment in the macaque retinoid model. Reprod Toxicol 14:311-323,2000.
4 Kochhar DM, Satre MA: Retinoids and fetal malformations. In: Sharma RP (ed). Dietary Factors and Birth Defects. San Francisco, Calif.: Pacific Division, AAAS, 1993, pp 134-229.
5 Freytag TL, Morris JG: Chronic administration of excess vitamin A in the domestic cat results in low teratogenicity. FASEB J 11(3):A412, 1997.
6 Mulder GB, Manley N, Grant J, et al.: Effects of excess vitamin A on development of cranial neural crest-derived structures: a neonatal and embryologic study. Teratology 62:214-226, 2000.
7 Palludan B: Swine in teratological studies. In: Bustad LK, McClellan RO (eds). Swine in Biomedical Research. Columbus, Oh.: Battelle Memorial Institute, 1966, pp 51-78.
8 Wiersig DO, Swenson MJ: Teratogenicity of vitamin A in the canine. Fed Proc 26:486, 1967.
9 Kamm JJ: Toxicology, carcinogenicity, and teratogenicity of some orally administered retinoids. J Am Acad Dermatol 6(4):652-659, 1982.
10 Tzimas G, Collins MD, Burgin H, et al.: Embryotoxic doses of vitamin A to rabbits result in low plasma but high embryonic concentrations of all-trans-retinoic acid: risk of vitamin A exposure in humans. J Nutr 126:2159-2171, 1996.
11 Cekanova E, Larsson KS, Orck E, Aberg G: Interactions between salicylic acid and pyridyl-3-methanol: Anti-inflammatory and teratogenic effects. Acta Pharmacol Toxicol 35(2):107-118, 1974.
12 Nelson BK, Synder DL, Shaw PB: Developmental toxicity interactions of salicylic acid and radiofrequency radiation or 2-methoxyethanol in rats. Reprod Toxicol 13(2): 137-145, 1999.
13 Leviton A: Does coffee consumption increase the risk of reproductive adversities? J Am Med Womens Assoc 50:20-22, 1995.
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15 Hinds TS, West WL, Knight EM, Harland BF: The effect of caffeine on pregnancy outcome variables. Nutr Rev 54(7):203-207, 1996.
16 Fernandes O, Sabharwal M, Smiley T, et al.: Moderate to heavy caffeine consumption during pregnancy and relationship to spontaneous abortion and abnormal fetal growth: a meta-analysis. Reprod Toxicol 12(4):435-444, 1998.
17 Eskenazi B: Caffeine--filtering the facts. N Engl J Med 341(22):1688-1689, 1999.
18 Cnattingius S, Signorello LB, Anneren G, etal.: Caffeine intake and the risk of first-trimester spontaneous abortion. N Engl J Med 343(25):1839-1845,2000.
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20 Klebanoff MA, Levine RJ, Clemens JD, Wilkins DG: Maternal serum caffeine metabolites and small-for-gestational age birth. Am J Epidemiol 155(1):32-37, 2002.
21 Alderete E, Eskenazi B, Sholtz R: Effect of cigarette smoking and coffee drinking on time to conception. Epidemiology 6:403-408, 1995.
22 Kapidaki M, Roupa Z, Sparos L, et al.: Coffee intake and other factors in relation to multiple delivers: a study in Greece. Epidemiology 6:294-298, 1995.
23 Parazzini F, Chatenoud L, Benzi G, et al.: Coffee and alcohol intake, smoking and risk of multiple pregnancy. Hum Reprod 11(10):2306-2309, 1996.
24 Bolumar F, Olsen J, Rebagliato M, et al.: Caffeine intake and delayed conception: a European multicenter study on infertility and subfecundity. Am J Epidemiol 145:324-334, 1997.
25 Curtis KM, Savitz DA, Arbuckle TE: Effects of cigarette smoking, caffeine consumption, and alcohol intake on fecundability. Am J Epidemiol 146:32-41, 1997.
26 Spinelli A, Figa-Talamanca I, Osborn J: Time to pregnancy and occupation in a group of Italian women. Int J Epidemiol 26(3):601-609, 1997.
27 Alm B, Wennergren G, Norvenius G, et al.: Caffeine and alcohol as risk factors for sudden infant death syndrome. Arch Dis Child 81:107-111, 1999.
28 Oei SG, Vosters RPL, van der Hagen NLJ: Fetal arrythmia caused by excessive intake of caffeine by pregnant women. BMJ 298:568, 1989.
29 Hadeed A, Siegel S: Newborn cardiac arrythmias associated with maternal caffeine use during pregnancy. Clin Pediatr 32(1):45-47, 1993.
30 Nath D, Sethi N, Skingh RK, Jain AK: Commonly used abortifacient plants with special reference to their teratologic effect in rats. J Ethnopharmacol 36: 147-154, 1992
31 Gulati DK, Mounce R, Chapin RE, Heindel J: Final report on the reproductive toxicity of 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone (CAS no. 131-57-7) in CD-1-Swiss mice. NTIS (National Technical Information Service) Report/PB91-158477, 1990.
32 Schlumpf M, Cotton B, Conscience M, Haller V, Steinmann B, Lichtensteiger W.: In vitro and in vivo estrogenicity of UV screens. Environ Health Perspect. 2001 Mar;109(3):239-44.
33 Roll R, Bar F: Effect of coumarin (o-hydroxycinnamic acid-lactone) on pregnant female mice. Arzeimittelforschung 17(1): 97-100, 1967.
34 Barbour LA: Current concepts of anticoagulant therapy in pregnancy. Obstet Gynecol Clin North Am 24(3): 499-521, 1997.
36 Chan WS, Arnand S, Ginsberg JS: Anticoagulation of pregnant women with mechanical heart valves. A systematic review of the literature. Arch Intern Med 160(2); 191-196, 2000.
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