Scared I overheated today and damaged baby

[FullMoon1]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently 7 weeks pregnant. My partner and myself went to a safari park in the UK today. My partner's aircon isn't working, so we bought a car fan.

We had the windows down most of the time, but obviously during the lion and tiger part we had to shut them.

I was sweating so much in the car despite the fan and drinking lots of water. It was about 25 degrees in the car.

I'm now really worried that I damaged the baby because I overheated and feel so stupid for going to the park today.

Did anyone have a similar experience of overheating in pregnancy and everything turned out okay? xx

@MotionActivatedDog

ahh, Happy birthday to yours.
thanks for pinging me

I’ve been pregnant 3 times whilst living in the Middle East, over the summer, where the temperature can reach almost 50. You will be fine. Just make sure you stay hydrated

20 years ago pretty much no cars had air con. 🤷‍♀️

I understand the anxiety of early pregnancy. I worried about all sorts of things- once I used an alcohol wipe to clean something and then worried that the alcohol or other chemicals would soak through my skin and harm the baby. So I get it, I really do.

But the answer is no, you absolutely have not harmed your baby. That only happens in like hot tubs and things (and even then its not actually proven that it does). I'm a teacher and my classroom regularly got to above 3p degrees when I was pregnant. It was awfully uncomfortable but baby was, of course, totally fine.

I recommend speaking to your midwife about your anxiety. It's very common and help is available x

Sorry that should read 30 degrees, obviously

@eurochick

20 years ago pretty much no cars had air con. 🤷‍♀️

This ^

I worry because I read if core body temperature is raised too high in pregnancy it can cause miscarriage or birth defects.

This generally refers to a raging, sustained fever, for example due to an infection. It's not about being out in hot weather. Although you felt very hot, your body temperature was probably not raised all that much or for very long. Remember humans sweat in order to cool our bodies.

I conceived and was pregnant with my twins whilst living in Singapore. The temperature never dropped below 30C and the humidity was horrendous. I don’t think you need to worry OP x

I mean this in a very caring and empathetic way. You are being daft. Xx

I totally get why you might be worried - but getting hot doesn't raise your core temperature. It's important to keep drinking water as you don't want to get dehydrated from the sweat, but the sweat keeps you cool, so it's a good thing.

Things like illness/fever raise your core temperature, which is why you should take paracetamol if you get ill, but actually being hot because of the weather won't raise it. Think about how women for thousands of years in central Africa/Australia/America/any other hot country have managed pre-AC It's worrying because we're not used to heat like this, but your baby will be fine.

I have anxiety too I get it and I googled this early on in pregnancy too! You say you were sweating, that’s a good sign that’s your body regulating it’s temperature. I woke up during the night last night pumping sweat with the heat and I was glad because it signals the body is keeping itself regulated, I’m
37 weeks. Keep hyrdrated and you will be fine x

I don’t think it’s a stupid question or that there’s any need for harsh responses. Early pregnancy is a very anxious time. And we’re told not to take overly hot baths or use saunas or hot tubs.

Anyway I agree with others OP - getting too warm in some hot weather wouldn’t cause your core temperature to rise. And the evidence on elevated temperature causing birth defects isn’t conclusive in any event.