Keeping It Cool

Photo by @bxcsmxth

To many pregnant Mammas, soaking in a nice hot bath or a jacuzzi may sound like the answer to all of their problems. While this sounds perfectly harmless and relaxing, there is a ton of research that urges Mammas to give soaking their bodies (and babies) in hot water a skip.  

 The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends that a pregnant woman should never let her body temperature rise above 102.2 degrees.  

A good rule of thumb is to consider the fact that a typical human body temperature is approximately 98.6 degrees, so if you focus on keeping all of your bath and shower temperatures below that, it should be relatively safe for you and your baby.  

A fairly recent study also mentions to not only limit the temperature in your bathtubs and hot tubs, but to limit the time you spend in them as well. This study found that spending longer than 15 minutes a day in the shower or bath may be associated with some increased risks of birth defects (Agopian et al., 2013).  

*When entering any body of water during pregnancy, ask yourself the 3 C’s

• Is it clean?

• Is it cool?

• Is is calm?

You can feel relatively safe floating in a pool, lukewarm tub or jacuzzi, or any other clean, cool, and calm body of water! Please of course speak to your health care provider on this topic as well!

The piping hot showers, bath soaks, and jacuzzi sessions will all be right there waiting for you after you deliver your sweet little Babba.