An essential guide

1. Nitrous oxide and pregnancy

Of all topics, this seems to be the one of which most people are unsure. To be fair, it is considered something of a ‘grey’ area with very little in the way of real research having been conducted over the years – some of these even challenged by the author later. However, some practical advice, based around what is published, would appear to be useful.

It is true to state that some evidence does suggest that chronic exposure to high levels of nitrous oxide can influence reproduction. This is a wide sweeping statement and needs to be approached cautiously. Certainly, in the first trimester of pregnancy, due to the demand for folic acid during organogenesis, nitrous oxide exposure should be avoided.