When parents are in their nesting phase, awaiting the arrival of their newborn baby, they’re preoccupied with buying all the obvious essentials for a newborn baby. This includes car seats, nappies, toys, and even baby clothes.

With that in mind, you would forgive them for not considering something as innocuous as the air quality in their home. But, more, studies are showing that clean air is vital for the wellbeing and healthy development of in utero and newborn babies. In fact, polluted air can stunt fetal and newborn development and growth, and have serious long-term effects.

Fortunately, there’s a lot that expecting and new parents can do to ensure their babies’ health and wellbeing. Quite simply, the cleaner the air we breathe, the better it is for our overall health and wellbeing. Air pollution is more than just an environmental problem. It’s a major health risk that impacts both current and future generations.

As adults, asthma, allergies, headaches, even our stress levels, are all impacted by the quality of the air we breathe, and the effects of air pollution like ozone, chemical fumes, exhaust fumes and second-hand smoke on adults are well documented. However, a recent study published by Medical News Today shows that air pollution can also affect the health of developing babies. It’s been proven that contaminants in the air can cross into the placenta, affecting the health of the placenta itself and disrupting the baby’s development.

Thankfully, there are more and more online retailers offering the essentials to make baby-raising a whole lot easier. You can check out some of the best deals on baby essentials on PriceCheck.

Other recent research suggests that higher exposure to air pollution results in lower birthweights, abnormal lung development, higher rates of infant mortality, and increased pre-term births, as well as inflammation in mothers. A 2019 study published in Nature also suggests that exposure to certain air pollutants is associated with first-trimester pregnancy loss.

Investing in an air purifier

While it’s not generally possible to control the amount of air pollution we’re exposed to outdoors, we do have control of the air purity in our homes, and this is where a good air purifier will benefit young, growing families.

Expecting and new parents should consider investing in a good quality home air purifier system. A purifier with HEPA filters can reduce the outdoor air pollution that makes its way inside our homes, by 23%. A quality air purifier can reduce parents’ and their babies’ chances of being affected by air pollution and its related health problems. It can also contribute positively to the growth and development of the baby, both before and after birth.

According to experts, the air we breathe contains more than 1,800 kinds of bacteria, including ones that can cause sickness. Whenever someone with a cold sneezes in our vicinity, germs spread in the air and are inhaled by others. This results in contamination. Air purifiers help kill these germs, and others, thus reducing your and your baby’s risk of getting sick. A home air purifier offers a range of benefits that expecting and new parents would do well to consider as part of creating the optimal conditions for their babies to thrive.

To ensure you’re buying the right air purifier for your family’s needs look for a model that has been awarded a certificate of approval from the Allergy Foundation of South Africa.

A great example is Solenco’s CF8608 Air Purifier, which uses a multi filtration system including prefilter, medical grade H13 HEPA filters, activated carbon filters and UVC light combined with a photocatalyst. With smart app technology this air purifier is designed for the modern open plan home and is recommended for spaces up to 50m2 at 4 ACH. Its five-stage purification system traps up to 99.97% of particles, while killing bacteria and viruses as small as 0,001 micron, and reducing VOCs, toxic fumes and odours. It is suitable for use in a range of settings, including schools, homes, doctor’s rooms, garages, etc.

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