Spa day? What can and can't i do?

[Firstpregnancy2014]

It's my birthday tomorrow and I've just found out my dh has booked me into a spa !
They do an aqua journey so I don't have any treatments booked just that- what can and can't I go in?
E.g jacuzzis, saunas, steam rooms etc?
And why ? I feel bad telling him I might not be able to go without a valid explaination!
I'm 18 weeks pregnant by the way :)

Check with the spam but usually you can't do anything 'hot' - so no jacuzzis, saunas or steam room. But lots of treatments will be fine, could you swap what your DH has ordered for suitable ones?

spa. Damn you autocorrect!

Sauna and steam room are no nos apparently. I went to a spa with some friends at about 28 weeks and dangled my legs into the jacuzzi whilst they were in it...

Sauna's, steam rooms and jacuzzi's are out I'm afraid, largely because of their effects on your core temperature and blood pressure. Could you book a nice pedicure? It'll be a long time until you see your feet again!

I work in a spa and the saunas, steam rooms and Jacuzzis are big no nos unfortunately. we do have pregnant women who will argue and insist and we let them at their own risk but I wouldn't risk it.

Thanks everyone ! There are a few aromatherapy rooms at the spa that release scents etc are these considered more safe ? It's not as warm as a steam room/ sauna

You would have to ask the spa about this as some aromatherapy oils and blends are not suitable either.

Perfectly timed question! i'm about 13 weeks pregnant at the moment and have a spa day booked for about a month's time (been booked for a while). I didn't give it any thought until friends mentioned i wouldn't be able to do anything. I don't particularly like saunas / steam rooms anyway, so not too upset about not being able to use those (gives me a great excuse to avoid at all costs!) but less happy about the jacuzzi situation! . I'm hoping to be able to get a couple of nice pregnancy-friendly treatments and just have a nice day of sitting around doing nothing rather than running around after a 2yo!

It's all about raising your core temperature, so anything that makes you heat up can be a bad idea.

BUT you're 18 weeks so the baby is pretty established by now. It's not a tiny ball of cells that can be damaged by even the smallest change in temperature. To raise your core temperature significantly you'd have to stay in a very hot sauna for quite a while, so long that it became unpleasant, so I don't think you would be having a nice enjoyable spa day if you were sweating buckets and feeling faint.

Personally I'd skip the sauna (but I don't really enjoy that even when not pregnant) and just do the gentler steam rooms for a short amount of time, with lots of cooling showers/swims in-between. I'd go in the jacuzzi as well, depends on the temperature really as I find some can be volcanically hot (would avoid) but others are just bath temp and quite comfy.

I think the risks presented to pregnant women are really overblown, you are far far more likely to injure yourself or baby crossing the road or getting in a car than doing any of the others things that are supposedly highly dangerous. There is a slight risk you will overheat but you know your body so depending on your personal attitude to risk you can go to the spa.

If you are the type who has zero tolerance of risk then it might be best to rearrange it so you just get a pedicure or a facial.

As for the aromatherapy oils, I doubt anything being used to scent a steam room would be anywhere near concentrated enough to do any damage.

I'm now 33 weeks and a couple of weeks ago ended up just sitting with my legs in the jacuzzi because it was bloody hot!

Deffo go for a swim if they have a pool though, I really liked that. And have a pedicure.

East its lovely to see your post - I was going to reply in a similar way -although possibly not as eloquently. There is a LOT of guff out there about Saunas and Steam rooms, I've tried to read up on it as much as I can. Most advice tends to lend itself towards "don't do it" as opposed to "be bloody sensible".
I agree that it would take quite some doing to raise your body temp high enough to damage a growing baby (think of all the women who live in very hot countries who manage to have babies, or all the women in countries where saunas are part of everyday life, Sweden for example). It seems when you drill down, the biggest problem you would face is getting too hot and that it might affect your blood pressure causing you to pass out. Then you really might hurt yourself and your bean.

So if your sensible, don't push yourself by getting too hot, drink lots of water at room tempature and leave before you pass out! You and your growing bean will be fine

Agree with eastwiththem - there's no need to get stressed about it

I still go in jacuzzi for 5-10 mins max I wouldn't say it was overly hot, I'm still doing spin classes and other exercises which no doubt increase core so a few mins in jacuzzi won't hurt I'm 24 weeks

Probably shouldn't tho

P.s I always just sit with legs in after for a few mins to avoid any light headed feelings

You've all made me feel ALOT better :)
I know not to stew in a jaccuzi all day but a little dip seems ok and I agree with what your saying about other dangers ! I just want a nice relaxing day I don't want to be panicking !
I went to a restuarant with a pregnant friend last week who wouldn't drink the lemonade because it was on draft and 'us pregnant women shouldn't drink drinks that are on draft' and she also wouldn't eat meat - incase it was undercooked.
I felt bad for all of 20 seconds then realised I'm enjoying my pregnancy and scans show the baby is fine- whereas overly cautious people seem to have a whole new lifestyle which surely can't be as enjoyable