Is It Safe to Visit Saunas and Steam Rooms During Pregnancy?

Many people enjoy the experience of visiting a sauna, hot tub, or Jacuzzi for relaxation and rejuvenation. The warm temperatures and heat helps to relax their body and calm their spirit. Although some people claim that these experiences have documented health benefits, there’s very little literature to suggest that these treatments are more than another form of relaxation. In fact, the heat from a sauna, steam room, or hot tub may have negative health effects in certain situations, particularly if you’re pregnant. Should you completely avoid all of these hot treatments during pregnancy?

What happens when you step into a sauna, hot tub, or steam room? The hot water or steam causes the body temperature to rise. To compensate, the vessels near the surface of the skin dilate to help release heat from the body in the form of sweat. The heart, in turn, works harder to pump blood to the vessels near the skin surface to cool the body faster.. In some cases, the heart rate may rise significantly can may present a problem if you have undiagnosed heart disease.

The safety of using a sauna, steam room, or hot tub during pregnancy has been widely debated over the years. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in 1992 suggested that women who exposed themselves to the heat from a sauna or hot tub during pregnancy were more likely to have a baby with a birth abnormality known as a neural tube defect. These are serious birth defects involving the brain and spinal cord. This risk in this study appeared to be confined to the first trimester of pregnancy.

Despite this, some doctors still believe that a sauna, steam bath, or hot tub is safe for women during pregnancy as long as sessions are kept short. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advise against the use of saunas during pregnancy and if they are to be used, they urge women to keep the sessions as short as possible, less than fifteen minutes at a time. This is to avoid the possibility of overheating and raising the core body temperature which could affect the developing fetus. The high heat associated with a sauna or steam room could also place an additional burden on the mother’s heart and circulation at a time where her heart already has to pump harder to provide oxygen to the developing fetus.

The bottom line? It’s best to avoid steam rooms, saunas, hot tubs, Jacuzzis, and other forms of high heat during pregnancy. Why take the risk of jeopardizing your unborn baby when the safety of these treatments is not completely known? Instead of choosing time in the sauna, why not treat yourself to another spa treatment such as a facial or massage? They’ll be plenty of time for sauna sessions after your baby is born.