Can I go in a hot tub when pregnant?
This is all about body temperature. Some say that if your body temperature goes over 101˚F (especially in your first trimester) you have an elevated risk of miscarriage and fetal tube defects. I found a couple of sites that mentioned a study found an increase in miscarriage in women that used a hot tub in the first trimester but they didn't study what else they were doing (like possibly shooting heroin) so it was inconclusive.
Manufacturers recommend 104˚F for a hot tub and some suggest turning it down a bit if you have high blood pressure or if you're pregnant. Many also suggest that you get out of the hot tub if you start feeling over heated, dizzy or faint. Gee, ya think? The same seems to apply for saunas. It sounds like most of the controversy is over the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. If you were anything like me at the end of your pregnancy, I think there's a greater risk of being harpooned in any kind of water than over heating and passing out.
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6 Comments
Reader Comments (6)
The problem with hot tubs is that they can (probably due to overheating) cause premature labour. It happened to my mom, with me.
I've got a hot tub which is at bath temp. Basically it's just a big bath and is not hot enough to make me dizzy - yes, otherwise I'd get out! The advantage is that I can lay there and get back massage, leg massage and just chill out.
Lovely!
Like all things... be sensible!
Hot tub = just a hot bath with bubbles!
This always makes me wonder if hot showers are an issue too?
Keep it cool and not hot and you will be fine. This will relieve so much pressure.
I live in a Scandinavian country and sauna is an integral part of culture here. During the first months of my pregnancy I would go swimming at our local pool and then use the communal sauna to be nice and toasty. I did not climb to the highest seat in the sauna (heat rises, obviously) and I really cannot say it did anything bad to me. The only bad thing that did happen at the pool was catching a cold when I did not get dressed fast enough...
My husband and I also spent a weekend at a spa and indeed I was prohibited from using a hot tub or whirlpools. They had a tough time coming up with treatments for me and eventually I got a facial and some sort of seaweed wrap for lower legs. Apparently there are a lot of things in the beauty world one should not do while pregnant... A friend of mine gave up her Chanel eye cream. Anyone else gave up a cosmetic routine?
Thank you for posting this! Hallelujah! I am a great great lover of saunas and nothing seems conclusive everywhere. This is one of those things that brings me great happiness and I am convinced that happiness will feed down to my baby. There was a study done of dark chocolate where mothers who ate it daily had happier babies. These measurements seem vague at the least, and a friend cited the study to me so I can't cite it directly, but my husband is convinced it was the happiness induced, not necessarily the chocolate consumed. Same could be said for saunas and me (who's also gone off chocolate incidently.) Ta again for the consideration of this topic near to my heart.