Is Retinol (in beauty products) harmful for pregnant women?

I can answer part of yoru question; hopefully someone else can answer the rest of it!

According to the Mayo Clinic, there is "unclear scientific evidence for this use [topical retinol for skin aging]". The topical Vitamin A (retinol is one type of Vitamin A) earned a "C" grade for the use of improving aging skin appearance and integrity.

The warnings regarding Vitamin A (Retinol) use that I found are related to one of the derivatives of Vitamin A, called retinoids, and are used to treat skin disorders such as acne. Specifically, the topical use of isotretinoin (Accutane®) can cause severe side effects and must not be used in women who are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or have a chance of being pregnant due to a risk of severe birth defects.

In fact, the risk is so high for severe birth defects while using isotretinoin-containing products that women must sign a pledge that they will not become pregnant, they must pass two pregnancy tests before using the product, and must pledge to use two forms of birth control...wow...I've never seen anything like this warning: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/medmaster/a681043.html

It does make you wonder how safe this product is for any woman, right? Does anyone else know?

And, I realize this does not fully answer your question regarding all retinol-containing beauty products (as the Mayo Clinic specifically stated isotretinoin as "high risk", and not retinol in general).