Hot baths

[morningpaper]

Are hot baths still bad if you're pregnant?

What about hot water bottles on your feet all night?

I had lots of very hot baths while pg with both of my girls and all was OK I just couldn't stand warm baths. First time around I avoided all the so called bad food and alcohol second time around I was far more lax . I have a good friend who lives in France and she was encouraged to continue drinking wine and not to avoid anything that she normally ate such as seafood, blue cheese , eggs etc.. her ds is fine so there you go...

Starlover,
I dont think you should worry too much about baby having peanut allergy. There are many cultures around the world where peanuts form a large part of the diet and they dont have high rates of allergies.

Has any one ever known anyone to have listeria,? I never heard ofit until I got pregnant?

Peanuts are only contra-indicated when you have a history of allergy in your family. Otherwise they are a very good foodstuff - full of brain-building choline.
You are more vulnerable to listeria (and salmonella) when pregnant as your immune system works less well. It is a very rare infection (about one in 20,000 pregnancies are affected), but can kill unborn foetuses.

If the body temperature is elevated for an extended period of time in the first trimester, it can cause developmental damage to the fetus. Hence, a fever higher than 2 degrees F above normal should seek medical attention. Likewise, it is one of the reasons where one should not exercise to exhaustion in 1 trimester (as if!) Hot tubs and saunas (in theory at least) carry a type of risk similar risk because of the elevation of body temp.

Anyway, my info came from material I read about exercise during pregnancy in a fitness instructor's journal.

'Loads of time' in the hot tub to us may not be as long or as mucha as say the Finns like to sauna. where the sensible limit lies to sauna / hot tub, I don't know. I can't see going in for 30 mins 2 /3 times a week at a reasonable temp. causing damage as like someone else said, the body is designed to protect the fetus at the cost of the mother.

I had hot baths with my dd1, got food poisoning by mistake through some undercooked chicken from a chinese, ate a few peanuts, had the odd glass of alcohol, wore non underwired bra and leaked everywhere. She is a very healthy happy little girl that eats a varied and good diet.

This pregnancy I have eaten prawns, whippy ice cream, peanuts occasionally, but have kept my underwired bra on till now (31w) to stop the leaking and am still having hot baths. So I think this advice can be a bit OTT and tends to be in place to cover the backs of the professionals.

Most of it is about moderation and being sensible. If you spent your entire pregnancy with a raised body temperature, then their would be a bad effect on the baby. But a quick 10 min dip to ease the backache is beneficial in my book. It's all about common sense really. If something feels right, then go with the flow.