Ask the Pros
Birth Plans
Birth Stories
Bookstore
Boy or Girl
Cesareans
Chat Room
Complications
Doulas
Educators
Episiotomy
FAQs
Feeding Baby
Fertility
Finding a Class
Health
Interactive
Labor
Message Board
Monitoring
Newborns
Postcards
Postpartum
Pregnancy
Reviews/Awards
Search
VBAC
Week by Week

Ask A Childbirth Educator
Questions and Answer

Q. My wife has been decorating ( painting ) and she is 4 months pregnant. Is this extremely bad and what could be the result.

A. It is not extremely bad if she doesn't overdo it and has good ventilation in the room. Today's interior latex paints are far safer than the paints of year's past. The biggest risk is that she will overexert herself and become exhausted. If she remembers to rest frequently there should be no problem. An open window to facilitate airflow and reduce fumes would be a good idea as well.

Karen Klimsak-Ungar, CCE has been a certified childbirth educator for Birth Works® since 1996. She is currently Managing Editor for the Birth Works newsletter, sits on the Birth Works Board of Directors, and serves on their National Trainee Review Committee. A happily married mother of two, she also continues to teach Birth Works classes as well as private classes.

Karen will answer your questions on fertility, pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and babies. Her advice does not take the place of your practitioner. Personal answers will not always be possible.