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PREGNANT AND CUTTING IT?

While you may think your expanding bump will get in the way of your normal salon duties, your doctor will tell you that for the most part, you can carry on normally as long as you´re having a healthy pregnancy. That said, you should take a few precautions and do some extra planning to ensure your nine months will be no problem.

Hair color and other chemical processes are a common cause for concern. But, “no study has ever shown that exposure to these chemicals causes any abnormalities during pregnancy,” says Brandy Garret an OBGYN at St. Vincent´s Women´s Hospital in Indianapolis. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists now agree that hair treatment chemicals are probably okay when carrying a baby. As a stylist though, you´re exposed several times a day, so wear gloves when handling chemicals and work in a well-ventilated area. If a process like a Brazilian Keratin Treatment concerns you, pass it off while pregnant.

Swollen feet and ankles go hand-in-hand with pregnancy due to extra fluid retention, and working on your feet all day can make matters worse. Garret recommends asking for a prescription pair of compression hose. They´re tightest at the ankle, which helps keep fluid from pooling there and keeps the blood flowing to reduce swelling and the appearance of spider veins. Don´t wait until the swelling gets unbearable in your third trimester though, wearing them early can prevent or reduce swelling later on.

Working in front of mirrors all day long means you´ll be forced to keep tabs on your changing body shape. And you may have to fit that new body into clothing that matches your salon´s image. There´s nothing worse than shopping when you feel enormous, so have an arsenal of cute maternity clothes ready before you need them. If you´re used to wearing heels to work, you´ll probably have to give them up. Since you´re on your feet all day, Garret suggests well-fitting, supportive shoes to prevent back pain. If you end up hurting anyway, try a pregnancy support belt that´s worn over the hips and under the belly for relief.

If you experience morning sickness, smells of color and other chemicals, smoky hair or even a client´s perfume could easily put your nausea over the edge. Always keep crackers or a granola bar on hand to settle your stomach and always have water on hand so you stay hydrated throughout your work day. Or plan ahead by regularly taking vitamin B6 or ginger supplements or drinking ginger tea — all have been shown to decrease nausea, according to Garrett. If home remedies don´t work, ask your doctor for a prescription. Even if you´re lucky enough to breeze through the first trimester without nausea, you´ll probably feel like you have to pee every five minutes. During pregnancy, your body produces lots of extra fluids and your growing uterus can put extra pressure on your bladder adding to the problem. Try to plan bathroom breaks between clients or while your assistant shampoos, but when you gotta go, you gotta go! Your bladder muscles may feel weak, too, to the point where every sneeze, cough or laugh puts you at risk for leakage. Carry along a change of clothes, just in case.

Feel free to maintain your usual workload as long as you don´t have any complications because actually walking is one of the best activities that you can do all the way up to your due date, says Garrett. If you´re an owner or manager, you may want to log more hours behind the desk than behind the chair, if you start to feel tired. Otherwise, consider allowing yourself more time for appointments so you don´t have to worry about running behind. Karen Gilmore, owner of K. Renee Salon in Houston, says keeping a 30-minute schedule during her pregnancy last year was too stressful. So she planned ahead and allowed 45 minutes for appointments instead, with lots of breaks. Even though you can keep a full schedule, you might feel like you´re constantly running on empty, especially in your first and third trimesters. Some stylists get through pregnancy without missing a beat or you may decide a reduced schedule is best. Jessica Knott, a stylist at Synergy Salon in Hudsonville, M.I., has worked through three pregnancies. She cut back her hours and only worked five hours each day to give herself some breathing room.

If you run the salon, you´ll need delegate work to other stylists and as a stylist, you shouldn´t hesitate to ask for help. Knott had trouble dealing with chemical smells, so she asked her coworkers to mix color. Shampooing with a big belly can be cumbersome, so that task often gets passed off, too. Most likely, your coworkers will be quick to lend a hand, but you should still let them know you´re thankful.

Once your pregnancy becomes obvious or when you start sharing the news with your clients, you might be surprised by their responses. Along with congratulations, clients who are parents themselves will share their experiences — both good and bad—while you´re stuck behind the chair. Gilmore said she heard so much about nannies, breast-feeding, balancing work and even sex that all she could do was zone out. But you might also learn something!

“No matter how miserable you are feeling, make sure each client´s last visit with you was the best one ever and let them know you cannot wait to see them in a couple of months,” says Gilmore. But even if you´re the best stylist in the salon, with a reduced schedule and six weeks off, it´s inevitable that a client or two will switch. “People don´t want to wait to get their hair done,” agrees Knott. She encouraged clients to pre-book appointments for six to eight weeks after her due date. If clients needed a cut during her leave, she set them up with a friend at the salon. Make sure your clients know exactly when you´re leaving and when you´re coming back. When you return from maternity leave, send all of your clients a postcard or an email reminding them that you´re available again. If you can, include a discount or gift as an extra incentive.

Sometimes timing is up to nature, but if you can, think about where you are in your career and where you want to go before you have a baby. Alissa Alvarez, a manager and stylist at Bella Dora Spa and Salon in Carlsbad, C.A., believes the hardest time to start a family is in the middle of your career. Either start a family early on before you build a client base so you don´t have to worry about starting over, or wait until you have a loyal and established following that will be sure to stick around when you return, says Alvarez. If you have aspirations of owning your own salon or traveling to style celebrities or runway shows, you may want to achieve those goals before starting a family. A new baby can sidetrack your career for a little while, but with clear-set goals and a supportive family anything is possible!

Just like your birth plan, your work plan is bound to throw you some curveballs. If you decide to work right up until your due date, your water could break in the middle of an appointment. If you stop working a week before, you could end up delivering a week late and losing two weeks of income. While unlikely, you could end up on bed rest and have to stop working months before your due date. Sit down with your manager or your staff at the beginning of your pregnancy to work out a few contingency plans, just in case.

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