Pregnancy's impact on fragrance preferences

We've all heard how pregnancy can radically increase and change olfactory sensitivity, so I'm really curious if any of you have experienced big/unexpected differences in your fragrance opinions during pregnancy.  I assume most people just stop using fragrance entirely or need to seriously cut back because it smells too strong for them, but I've also heard of people finding their usual favorites disgusting and suddenly being interested in totally opposite scents.  Apparently similar changes occur for some who stop/start hormonal birth control.

I'm not pregnant but I was curious to hear stories about this!

I didn't choose for children and, when using birthcontrole, I wasn't much into perfumes at that time. But I do remember my mother telling me her preferences for perfumes changed during pregnancy.  But after pregnancy she again loved the perfumes she'd always loved. Only one certain perfume reminded her of feeling nausious in the beginning of her pregnancy and she wasn't able to smell that one ever again. Don't remember which one. 

This change in preferences goes for taste aswell by the way (which isn't strange because taste and smell are close related). She did tell me that, when she was pregnant with me, she felt the urge to eat limestone, almost wanting to take that out of the walls of our home !  

I don't know about pregnancy in particular. But a friend of mine on hormone therapy told me that her sense of smell drastically increased after she started. For a while she was in the habit of showering multiple times a day because she was so aware of the smell of her own body. I have to imagine something like that would change fragrance preferences too, right? Probably hard to enjoy anything animalic or indolic, even if you did before...

The only things I could wear during my wife's pregnancy were super fresh or extra fruity fragrances like Erba Pura . My wife is like the only woman I know that doesn't care for Erba Pura outside of pregnancy

It makes sense that she might associate one perfume with morning sickness, hope it wasn't one of her favorites!

Sounds like your mother had a condition known as pregnancy-induced pica, where people begin to crave non-edible things like chalk, dirt, paper, etc.  Some people have pica all the time but when it's caused by pregnancy, they're even more likely to crave dirt and stones which is theoretically the body's way of seeking additional iron and minerals... glad she was able to resist the urge to chow down on the house!  

Never thought I'd get a chance to use information I learned in my psychology degree on a perfume forum, lol

Oh wow, that must have been a bit frustrating to have to constantly bathe to fight your own smell.  Anything even vaguely animalic, indolic, or just too bitter would probably be disgusting in that state!

That definitely makes sense, but it's funny she doesn't like it when she's not pregnant lol especially with it typically being popular. I would imagine different notes stand out in each state. I've also heard of women who found the natural body odor of their husbands disgusting during pregnancy so... I guess it's better that she just is annoyed by cologne lol

My wife didn’t mind me wearing my frags while she was pregnant (though she was more sensitive to the stronger ones), but we both took a 3 month break from fragrance after each of our kids was born so they could get used to our natural scent.

😅 That's interesting information about pica. I'm sure it was only pregnancy induced thank god . And maybe she did foresee my osteoporosis 🤔?

I've never been pregnant (own choice) but I have definitely heard about this before and find it interesting that hormones can change your fragrance preferences. I've used birth control (Mirena IUD) almost 20 years now but never noticed it changing my sense of smell in any way at all, probably because it's keeping the hormonal levels actually very stable all the time.

Pregnancy is a gift from God, being a mother is one of the most beautiful roles a woman can have. Therefore, nothing is valuable that could potentially jeopardise a pregnancy. Some perfumes can contain ingredients that aren’t exactly benign, including toluene, formaldehyde releasers and phthalates.

Phthalates are often found in potent fragrances, these are classified as endocrine-disrupting chemicals. These chemicals mimic hormones, potentially interfering with the body’s natural hormonal balance. Studies have suggested that phthalates used in cosmetics products could lead to preterm birth.

Hypersomia is a persistently heightened or increased sense of smell, and it’s very common in pregnancy. Estrogen can make every little scent that wafts your way feel like an all-out assault on your nostrils.

I've wondered the same thing about if hormonal stability actually prevents scent preferences from changing!  There could even be differences between each phase of one's cycle, which would be cool but also annoying because it would be a lot harder to maintain a signature scent.

That's actually such a smart and sweet thing to do, I never thought of that before!  But it definitely makes sense, wouldn't want to spray on a bunch of cologne before holding a newborn hahaha

Well, what role pregnancy plays for women is irrelevant now, and it's up to the woman to decide, so I think it's up to each individual to think about it. Women's roles are varied. Japanese women don't like strong scents, so I often see people selling off all the perfume they own, saying, "I'm going to sell all my perfume because I had a baby." Because your constitution, way of thinking, and environment change.
I haven't experienced this myself, but I think it's possible. Hormonal balance does affect your sense of smell.

If you're pregnant - avoid all fragrances! 

Also avoid all chemicals, as much as you can.  

The baby's body would soak these up through the bloodstream and that would do much irreversible harm.