Are BOTOX® Cosmetic and Dermal Fillers Safe during Pregnancy?

According to the American Pregnancy Association, most women find out they are pregnant when they are anywhere from four to seven weeks along. Obviously, it will take at least one missed period before you will know for certain that you are expecting. While you may be excited to discover you are pregnant, you may have some concerns about any drugs or cosmetic treatments you may have had during those critical four to seven weeks after conception, but before you realized you were pregnant. Our staff at Jefferson Plastic Surgery fields questions from pregnant women concerned about the possible adverse effects of BOTOX® Cosmetic or dermal filler procedures they underwent.

Why Are the First Two Months of Pregnancy So Crucial?

Many of the necessary biological processes that form the fetus take place during the first trimester of pregnancy. During the first month of pregnancy, the embryo undergoes rapid cell division and differentiation as it begins to grow and turn into a fetus. Almost all of the organs of the fetus will have formed by the end of the second month of pregnancy.

Because the fetus depends on nutrients and oxygen from the mother, which are passed through the umbilical cord, any substance in maternal blood has a high chance of being passed on to the fetus. This may include alcohol, anesthetic for certain medical procedures, and medications.

Can BOTOX® Cosmetic and Dermal Fillers Harm the Fetus?

Obviously, the concern is the risk of either BOTOX® Cosmetic or dermal fillers entering the maternal blood stream, and thereby being passed along to the fetus through the umbilical cord. Fortunately, neither are injected deep enough into the face as to present a substantive risk of entering the blood stream. They are only injected either just under the skin’s surface (dermal fillers) or into the superficial facial muscles (BOTOX® Cosmetic).

An interesting research article reported on the results of a survey sent to 900 physicians who used BOTOX® Cosmetic on patients in their practices. The survey asked if the doctors had either knowingly or unknowingly treated pregnant women with BOTOX® Cosmetic, and if they knew the outcomes of the pregnancies.

Of the almost 400 physicians who returned the surveys, only 12 reported treating pregnant women. Of the 16 pregnant women who were treated, most were in the first trimester. One woman with a history of miscarriages lost her baby, and another opted to undergo an abortion. The remaining women carried to full term and delivered healthy infants with no signs of fetal malformation as a result of the BOTOX® Cosmetic injections. Although the researchers still felt that having BOTOX® Cosmetic treatments if you know you are pregnant is not advisable, they also stated that their research shows that there is an unlikely chance of harm to the fetus from having BOTOX® Cosmetic before you know you are pregnant.

Our surgeons recommend not undergoing any BOTOX® Cosmetic or dermal filler treatments if you already know that you are pregnant. However, there appears to be a very low risk of harm to the fetus if you undergo these procedures before you know that you are pregnant.