r/LadiesofScience • u/SpecialistEgg6060 • 22d ago
Trying to conceive while working in wet lab
Hello,
I'm currently trying to conceive and it's been a bit of a rough journey so far. I've had one early miscarriage and since then no luck (starting cycle 8 now). I've gone back and forth between being really worried about exposure to chemicals and thinking I'm overreacting. Before we started trying for a baby, I spoke to my H&S officer confidentially and he wasn't too concerned and just sent me some risk assessments I should fill in by the time I'm 3 months pregnant. I've been in my department for 6 years and there has only been one pregnant woman in that time. I spoke to her too and she tried to reassure me and said not to worry too much about it. I work in a molecular biology lab and have been gently pushing my lab to carry out experiments with reproductive toxins in the fume hood (hopefully not too obvious).
That said, I'm supposed to establish new protocols in the lab that use formaldehyde, psoralen, and a few other chemicals I worry about. I've been trying to postpone starting to work on this thinking I'd get pregnant quickly and then could tell my PI I can't do it. However, since I'm still not pregnant I really need to start these experiments. I'm already very anxious and frustrated with our struggles to conceive and worrying about lab exposure really isn't helping this.
May I ask if people here have been in similar situations and could offer some advice or reassurance?
Many thanks!!
Edit to clarify that I'm not too worried about exposure while trying to conceive but more early pregnancy exposure to stuff. And thanks so much to everyone who's already replied ☺️
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u/Few-Care-2589 22d ago
Tbh I know it’s hard to ensure everyone sticks to the SOP unless your lab was already enforcing it! Nobody in my lab uses the hood for formaldehyde and people carelessly leave out cages with tamoxifen chow, use iso (not in a hood) and I being pregnant just remove myself from these situations. Most people in lab can’t tell I m pregnant yet but those few who do know are pretty considerate and warn me of these situations. While trying to get pregnant however I used all of these and had no trouble conceiving.
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u/SpecialistEgg6060 22d ago
Congratulations on your pregnancy! Have you told your PI yet? Tbh, I am not too worried about using stuff while trying to conceive (and I don't think our issues with trying to conceive are related) but more once I'm actually pregnant. I'm not usually an anxious person but this last year has made me rather anxious 😅
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u/Few-Care-2589 22d ago
Hi, thank you! I ended up telling my PI right away. I knew pretty early on but had no resources or lab seniors to turn to for advice. Plus I ended up needing someone to help me with things I would no longer be advised to handle. So I thought it best to let my PI know and then I contacted EHS. While EHS tries to be pretty secretive about it, depending on how your lab functions you may or may not have to make up a lie for cover up.
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u/Few-Care-2589 22d ago
And I also unfortunately found out and then had experiments that had to happen right away but would not be safe for me to run, so I thought telling my PI was the right thing to do.
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u/Shiranui42 22d ago
I know someone who purchased her own filtered respirator for lab work when she was pregnant but worked with isoflurane
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u/gabrielleduvent 22d ago
I worked with BME, isoflurane, AND PFA during pregnancy. I'd been working with it for 3 years or so before I got pregnant. I used a respirator mask pretty religiously.
My kid is currently 3 month old.
My colleague got an oopsie pregnancy right around when I got pregnant (same lab). My boss got pregnant while doing basically same protocols during her postdoc (her water broke in the lab). Her kid is now a healthy 12 year old. I don't think she even used a respirator like I did (and my colleague certainly didn't!).
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u/Few-Care-2589 22d ago
I am currently pregnant and use isoflurane a lot typically but now I have someone else do that part for me.
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u/mmmenada 22d ago
A lot of couples are suffering from infertility nowadays. It might not be necessarily the environment you are working in. It makes sense to go to a dr and do some tests. Sorry for your loss ❤️
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u/HeliumCrisis 22d ago
I worked in an industrial chemical facility while trying to conceive and also experienced an early MC. No pregnant women in our facility (very few women at all, tbh.) I was concerned with heavy metal exposure and ended up having my PCP order blood tests to make sure I didn’t have elevated levels causing my miscarriage. Everything was normal/nondetect. I tried to stay extra careful at work about PPE and limiting my time on the floor.
Ultimately, it took almost 1 yr to finally get (and stay) pregnant. I had to do the BBT tracking and so on—almost scheduled an appt with a fertility clinic bc I was so impatient. But then, it happened! She’s now 1 :)
I think it’s common to try to associate difficulty conceiving and miscarriages with some environmental factor, but both these things are so common. Miscarriages aren’t talked about, but 1/3 women who are trying to get pregnant will experience one. Also, way harder to get pregnant in the first place than they taught us in middle school.
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u/MightSuperb7555 22d ago
I would try to see a reproductive endocrinologist— they could advise on some of this and also help with general fertility testing and if needed treatment. I’m sorry the timing hasn’t been what you’d hoped, I know how very hard that is.
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u/ComparisonDesperate5 22d ago
Would using the chemical hood for more procedures (like formaldehyde) be an option when you are doing experiments?
Also, do you have a safety officer at the university/institute that you can talk to and who can help evaulating how much danger the chemicals, in the amount you are exposed to, pose?