Accidental heating pad use! ahhhh!

[argylesocks]

I don't know why it didn't occur to me that using a heating pad would be a bad idea but, unfortunately, it didnt.

I'm 6 weeks and was feeling queasy this week so before bed I would lay (usually on my side/upper tummy) for about 30 minutes on a heating pad with a terrycloth cover at setting 2.

Now i hear how horrible this is, how it causes brain damage and birth defects and how i probably ruined my baby.

Am i overreacting to be so freaked out? Is this common knowledge? I can't keep up with everything Im not supposed to do. This one slipped by.

Never heard of that one.

I think all these warnings can be a bit OTT. I hugged my mum when she was radioactive and strictly told not to go in the same room as a pg person, when I was 6 weeks, DD is fine.

Please don't panic!

Were you feeling hot? The issue is that they can raise your and the baby's temperature, which is the same as you having a fever when pregnant. If it wasn't hot enough to make your skin pink or sweaty it probably wasn't hot enough to do any damage.

Yes, I think it is only a problem if YOU get really overheated.

So it may bit risky to sit in a really hot sauna/jacuzzi/bath until you're red in the face and dizzy.

I think the issue is your own body temperature, rather than direct heat to the tummy area. So if you were feeling comfortable, I think the baby probably was too :)

I think that if a heat source is sufficient to warm the blood round the baby significantly, that could also be a problem. The usual advice on heat pads is not use them on your belly/lower back (ie. don't put them on the baby) and to stop using one if you start to overheat at all.

I've been using a heat pad on my lower back, and to be honest I couldn't get through the day if I didn't. I had back problems before becoming pregnant and now at 20+1 it's getting worse.

I did a bit of scouting on the Internet and found that it's ok to use so long as you are not over heating, which mine doesn't get hot enough to do anyway. I've not consulted a MW though so I would be interested to hear what they say if you find out if you can continue to use it.

Please don't fret about your baby (easier said than done, I know!) they are resilient little things and well protected in there.

Apparently in Finland women carry on having saunas all the way through pregnancy and they don't have a higher rate of birth defects, so I think the risk of overheating is overstated! After all, your body is pretty good at keeping internally at a constant temperature and I would be surprised if it suddenly loses this ability because you're pregnant - if heat was really as bad as they say then wouldn't there be more birth defects in hot countries that cold countries?

that is a very good point. i don't mean to panic, i think i need to stay off the internet since apparently everything i do can possibly kill the little thing.

i think i was just getting freaked out because aside from a bit of queasyness i just dont' feel pregnant... so i'm thinking that something must be wrong but i'm probably just being paranoid. thanks :)

In order to carry a risk to the fetus, you would have to raise your core body temp by several degrees, for hours. That is actually very difficult to do. The advice to avoid saunas/hot baths etc is more to do with the effect of the heat on your blood pressure (your blood vessels dilate and you would be at a higher risk of fainting). People are also often advised not to exercise until they get hot and sweaty, due to this supposed risk of malformation to the fetus in early pregnancy - even though studies have shown that even though YOU feel hot and sweaty when doing strenuous exercise, your core temp barely changes at all.

The whole body temp/fetal malformation thing was based on research on pregnant mice who were kept at very high temps to raise their core temp for days at a time - the baby mice either died or were malformed.

I would therefore doubt you have caused any harm whatsoever to your baby.

^japhrimel Sat 09-Oct-10 18:35:38
... The usual advice on heat pads is not use them on your belly/lower back... ^

Really? Strange this since my physio (NHS referred to by my GP) is adamant I use a heat pad every evening when I get home on my lower back to relieve the pain caused by an long standing back issue that's being made worse because of my pregnancy. She knows I am pregnant, and says that it is just heat that will relax the muscles. She says I should use it as my first choice before any pain killers. I think it is unlikely she would recommend this if there was any chance of it harming the baby. Maybe this is just one of those things that people say that just isn't true. Some people would have you believe you have to live in a bubble for 9 months to have a healthy baby.

best to ring your local maternity unit advice line if you are worried - they are always very good