POISONING THE UNBORN THROUGH THE SKIN

Happiness* and Leone* were a lovely West African couple in my care a few years ago. They were new to Kenya as Leone had taken up a post in a multi-national company locally as an expatriate. They were also expecting their first baby after five years of marriage and they were extremely excited.

Happiness spoke rudimentary English, and being terrible in French myself, it was a great relief that her husband always accompanied her to her ante-natal visits, not only as an active parent but also as a much-needed translator. He always fawned over her and repeatedly emphasized the instructions given, especially when he thought she wasn’t being very compliant.

On the other hand, Happiness was sweet, with an almost child-like innocence. On the first visit, I noticed she was very pretty, with beautiful eyes but her skin looked a little odd. She was dressed in a regal kente outfit, with a uniquely high neck-line and beautifully adorned long sleeves. She looked amazing albeit a little too heavy for the hot weather out there.

As the first ante-natal visit requires a full head to toe examination, I finally figured out why her skin looked a little odd. Happiness was on board the express skin bleaching train, with a not-so-nice outcome. She had been using bleaching agents for years and the outcome had been less than desired. While her face had lightened up, the body looked awful. Her skin looked like a cobblestoned walkway, like a healing bruise. It was rough to touch and patchy in colour. Her facial skin had thinned out so much it looked almost translucent.

Three years prior, Happiness was introduced to skin bleaching, which had literally become a way of life in her home country. For a while, she achieved her desired skin colour but soon learnt that she had to stay on the lightening creams to sustain it. However, over time, her body began to get patchy and she frantically moved from one cream to another, seeking to restore things to ‘normal’ without success. Her face began to burn easily in the sun, causing her to resort to hats to keep safe. Her tailor had to get creative around her outfits to keep her looking great while concealing the misbehaving skin.

Discussing the potential dangers her indulgence posed to her baby left both of them shaken. The creams were sent to the disposal bin and as Happiness nurtured her unborn baby, she also nurtured her skin gradually back to health. We agonized over the mid-trimester ultrasound scan outcome and collectively sighed with relief when it was reported as normal. The delivery of a healthy baby girl was the crowning glory and I pray that there was no hidden damage that would manifest later in her life.

Despite having gotten pregnant, she never once thought about the effect of the skin bleaching agents on her unborn baby. Well, the news is that majority of pregnant moms using these products have no clue what they could be setting their babies up for.

Happiness joins a large number of women in the skin bleaching league in pregnancy. Reasons for bleaching their skin have been argued in several fora but the fad has caught on like a house on fire despite untold stories of misery from women whose results were far from desired. Sights of women with unnaturally light complexion faces with thin skin and bruised-looking cheekbones with black knuckles on their fingers are far more common around town.

Many of the skin bleaching agents sold in Kenya are not approved for use by the Kenya Bureau of Standards and are sold in the black market. This means that their content is not known but common agents include hydroquinone, mercury, salicylic acid, retinoic acid and steroids. The adverse effects of these chemicals on the user have been documented in many studies and include hypersensitivity reactions, increased risk for high blood pressure and diabetes, adrenal abnormalities, eye disorders and brain disorders.

Despite repeated warnings and raids, most of downtown Nairobi exhibition stalls continue to conduct serious trade in these illegal products. This has spread across the country and the naturally ebony complexion of most African women has become a rare find. Men have not been spared either as the skin lightening fad continues to be promoted by African and international black celebrities.

At what cost to our unborn babies? Pregnancy has a tendency to cause a natural darkening of the skin known as chloasma or the natural mask of pregnancy. Skin-lightening women work even harder to prevent this, in the process inadvertently using even more dangerous products during pregnancy to achieve their desired products.

Evidence on the effect on the unborn baby are less clear but studies on lab animals clearly demonstrate that a lot of these chemicals cause serious damage to the developing embryos. Chemicals such as salicylic acid and retinoic acid are known to cause harm to the unborn baby and their use is prohibited in pregnancy. Damage to the baby in the first trimester has a huge impact in the development of the baby’s organs that may result in complications that may cause severe debilitation or incompatibility with life.

So in the quest for perceived beauty, is this an acceptable price for our unborn babies to pay? Is it alright with us to accept that a baby can be born with dysfunctional kidneys at the price of vanity? What is the point of taking folic acid to prevent our babies from developing hydrocephalus or spina bifida then negating that effort with one smear of toxins on mummy’s skin? What does this say about us as a society?

A mother’s instinct is usually to protect her offspring. Even the most stubborn one will make an attempt to cut back on alcohol, smoking and other drugs for the sake of her little one. Ignorance should not be our defense as we rain calamity on the little ones. This cosmetic speed train to hell needs to be brought to a screeching halt!