Is kitty litter really dangerous in pregnancy?

Let's talk about it.

Welcome to the All About Pregnancy and Birth Podcast.

If you're having a baby in the hospital, you are giving birth in a system that too often takes away power from women over what happens in their own bodies.

I'm Dr. Nicole Calloway Rankins, a practicing board certified OBGYN, who's had the privilege

of helping well over a thousand babies into this world.

I've been a doctor for over 20 years, and I'm here to help you take back your power,

advocate for yourself, and have the beautiful pregnancy and birth that you deserve.

This podcast is for educational purposes only and it's not a substitute for medical advice.

Check out the full disclaimer at Dr. Nicole Rankin's.com full with slash disclaimer.

Now let's get to it.

Hello there. Welcome to this shorty episode of the podcast, whether this is your first time listening or you've been here before.

Thank you for spending some time with me today. So let's talk about changing kitty litter and whether or not that is actually a concern during pregnancy.

So the reason that this is an issue at all is because of something called

toxoplasmosis. Toxoplasmosis is a disease that results from infection with the toxoplasma

parasite. It's one of the world's most common parasites, actually. And infection usually occurs

by eating undercooked, contaminated meat,

exposure from infected cat feces, or mother to child transmission during pregnancy. That's how a

baby could get it. It can pass through the placenta, infect the baby, and have some

effects on the baby. That's something called congenital

toxoplasmosis. Now congenital toxoplasmosis can lead to a range of complications for a developing fetus.

These can include miscarriage, stillbirth, or abnormalities that affect the central nervous system,

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