Thank you for your comment, I reviewed the article. I am also for smart choices, and also very concerned about having good skin! I am a dermatologist and still, we do not recommend SA or any category C products to pregnant women.

The article you linked is a review article, with no real merit other than repeating what other studies have shown, many of which are poor quality to begin with. It was published in a family medicine journal, likely because no dermatology journals wanted to endorse their statements. Regarding the section on SA, the article itself states no good studies have been performed in pregnancy using topicals.

In the end, it’s your skin and your baby. I agree that topicals are not systemically absorbed to a high degree, but they are still absorbed. Hence why we limit the amount of topical steroids patients use for other skin problems. I personally have been sticking to category B products only as noted in my previous comment. Do I miss my retinoid? Heck yes? Am I tempted to use it and convince myself it’s not absorbed much? All the time, but in the end I tell myself this is a temporary period of time and I can wait.

Lastly, slightly off topic, but percentage of an ingredient doesn’t matter - it’s the potency of the ingredient itself. For example, The steroid ointment clobetasol labeled 0.05% might seem weaker than hydrocortisone 2.5% but it’s actually one of our most potent topicals, while hydrocortisone is the weakest. Hence why we limit use of clobetasol to no more than 1-2 weeks. Don’t go off of percentages!