Scuba diving & Hair dye

There are two activities that I routinely recommend avoiding in pregnancy - horseback riding and scuba diving. This is not based on any great reference or research, but having participated in both of these, I understand their joys but also their dangers. Having said that, if you are a very experienced diver and you don't go down far enough to experience the risk of nitrogen excess, I suppose that a recreational dive is not going to hurt. But if I were you, I would stick to snorkelling.

Vegetable hair dyes are OK to use in pregnancy, but I would recommend avoiding any of the permanent or semi-permanent dyes. The risk comes from contact with the skin that may put lead to absorption. If there is no contact with the skin, I would imagine that you would be safe.

Thanks for writing.

Peg