can I put a hot water bottle on my bump?

[IWantToBeADragon]

my stomach muscles are aching and just thought a heat pad / hot water bottle may help... Will it boil my waters or something? lol

I would probably avoid putting a hot water bottle or heat pad on the bump. The baby has no cooling mechanism and so you want to avoid overheating it.

I would suggest the faithful pregnancy friend paracetemol if you are very uncomfortable

yeah I had a vague feeling it wasn't a good plan, thank you

You could try a warm bath, although I suppose it's a bit late now!

At the end of my third day in early labour I took two hot water bottles to bed, had one on my back and one on my bump, and after about half an hour my waters broke with an audible pop! I did wonder if I'd boiled over, it did feel quite warm lol

well atleast i know how to speed labour up now ;)

Someone on NHS Direct told me to put a hot water bottle on my tum because I was having weird cramps. I think as long as it's not volcanically hot it's okay.

Baby's quite protected in there, it's not going to be like one of those Findus boil-in-the-bag things!

Haha, Thats exactly what i thought it would be like!

Weird cramps YY, my whole bump is achy, tight and crampy, like period pains but more persistent

NHS direct told you too?!

Shouldn't be done. It can cause a rise in baby's temperature leading to many things, there's a lot of research I'd dig out if I wasn't on my phone.

I've had terrible stomach pains but midwives and ob-gyns all very strictly said no hot water bottle. :(

NHS Direct told me I had really bad constipation when in actual fact I was mc . As you can imagine, don trust a word they say....

I didnt/Wont do it... Kinda thought it wasnt a good plan hence the post, but i am glad i asked! Scary that my joke about boiling my waters could be taken so literally

sorry to hear that LittlePeaPod

I had this conversation with a physio the other day, for sciatica she said I could use a hot water bottle as it's away from bump and only getting cooler rather than heating up. Don't know whether that contradicts or confirms what others say..

As an aside how pg are you? Could it be.Braxton hicks?

I often use the hot water bottle on my bac, legs and feet, but never bump :)

I am ok now Op thank you for your thoughts. It was back in Feb/March. I am currently 29+6 with our DD so very happy... I get the round ligament pains and lower back pain it I am so paranoid that I won't take anything. Ha ha ha. I do however find a nice bath normally really helps me..

30+3 could be braxton hicks idk? First pregnancy lol, its all very confusing!

Bath alone would be nice, everytime i try poorly DSD ends up coming in to "talk nicely" lol Congrats on the little girl to come LittlePeaPod, :)

Oh no! I hadn't thought of this! A hot water bottle up my jumper is what keeps me going on the markets in the winter!

I found this, if it helps? www.babymed.com/blogs/jaclyn-stewart/verdict-hot-water-bottles-pregnancy-they-are-safe

It appears that you'd have to raise your core temperature for the baby to overheat - something like going for a run in the hot sun or using a sauna would do this but it's unlikely that a hot water bottle would.

What cariad said. A hot water bottle isn't big enough to raise your core temperature. Baby will be fine. At least that's what the consultant told me.