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Anything that can raise your body temp is harmful to the baby. I believe it is anything over 110 degrees. Good Luck!

My dr said it can be very harmful. Yungmama is right. Anything that raises your body temp can be very harmful to baby and cause defects. Just relaying what my dr told me, I am not an expert, but I trust him. He also told me not to get a massage or hard foot rubs. If you want a massage, you need to go to a spa and get a massage specifically designed for pg women.

I have always heard that too--don't sit in a spa, and I assume a sauna would be equally as harmful, but this early I wouldn't worry that you've already caused any harm. Just discuss it with your doctor. Kay, I'm curious about the massage thing. I asked my dr. about this and she said massage isn't harmful, but I wondered if there's a specific kind you're talking about, like maybe a sports or accupressure massage. I ask because I really want to get one soon.

Karen, my mom is a massage therapist, and she is ALWAYS busy with pregnant women. There really isn't anything she does differently, but I know she always does just relaxation massage on preg women and not like shiatsu or even hot stone massage. I would think the dr. would not want you laying on your stomach for the massage, in which case most therapists have a pregnancy table or pregnancy pillow- which let me tell you, for a very pregnant woman that is about as close to heaven on earth as you can get ;) ! I can see the hard foot rubs if you are having a problem with swelling or hypertension etc, b/c the foot rub will increase the blood to that area and that is not what you want. If you are having a problem with swelling, you would want to VERY lightly "massage" in straight strokes toward the heart to help the blood and fluid get out of that area. ANYWAY, after that ridiculously long post, I hope you found something that helps. Just remember to inform the therapist when you make the appt. that you are preg. and make sure they have the proper equipment. I am 12 weeks tomorrow and will finally be getting a massage YAY!!

I read as long as it's not above 101 or something.

Regarding massage, be sure your therapist knows you are pregant. There are different schools of thought about massage, but there are certain pressure points (around the inner ankle and the shoulders, for example) that are believed by some practitioners to cause downward moving energy...which could be bad if you aren't ready to deliver (but could be great if your due date has passed)! Anyway, just tell your massage therapist so that s/he knows to be careful.

Well, in some other countries (Germany comes to my mind) it is actually recommended to go to saunas while pregnant.
Provided you do it right, ie maximum 12 minutes in a dry air sauna, then cooling down, (and only then!) your inside temperature is unlikely to rise more than 3 or 4 degrees.

from what i read, saunas and spas are no good for baby because it raises your body temp, i also read that most of the time you get unconmforatble at the time when the temperature is harmful and wind up getting out anyway, however i would just tottaly avoid it.

The big problem for pregnant woman is to avoid releasing toxins stored in the tissues in a way that gets to the baby. Saunas stimulate toxin release through the skin, but increase blood flow as well. It's probably best to wait until after the first trimester to use a sauna. If it is the detox benefits you want, you might want to consider using a different method: hot (not uncomfortably hot) bath with 1-2 cups of salt (table salt works - no extra benefit from sea salt because it is the osmotic pressure that does the detox) pulls toxins out through the skin. Sit for 20 minutes while drinking water. Be sure to get up slowly so you don't get dizzy. Wash off afterwards to remove toxins from your skin.

Based on an OBs recs: Spas are ok if they are kept under 100 degrees. Massage is ok as well as long as the therapist doesn't do a major deeptissue massage on the lower back region

No, it's not ok. Stay out of both when you're pg.

I had the same worry early in my pregnancy, especially after I read that overheating before week 8 can increase the chance of neural tube defects of the baby. As I had been in a sauna around weeks 6-7 I frantically started reading the literature on the topic and found out that Finish women don't stop their sauna sessions during the first 2 trimesters of pregnancy. At the same time, the incidence of neural tube defects among the Finish is one of the lowest in the world. Aparently the overheating problem becomes an issue if it raises the mother's body temperature beyond 102 degrees for a fairly prolonged period of time (e.g. 24 hours; typically due to fever). My midwife agreed with this, but still advised me not to use sauna for the rest of my pregnancy for fear of dizziness and miscarriage. Hence I hadn't been to a sauna beyond week 8. I am in week 29 of my pregnancy now and according to the anomaly scan the baby seems to be doing fine. Good luck!

not safe, anything that increases your core body temp is not safe. Skip that spa and sauna!

What about hot showers are those ok?

The key is to not overheat. So make sure you drink lots of ice cold water, stay well hydrated, and keep your sessions short 5-7 minutes and take cold showers as soon as you get out the sauna. Keep a thermometer with you so that you can be sure that your temperature is below 101.9 degrees F.
There is so much fear floating around about this issue and it really is silly. Use good judgement and DO NOT get comfortable in the sauna for long. It is very theraputic and relaxing and you don't need to stay long.

I used the sauna and steam room almost daily before pregnancy for 20-30 minutes at a time with cold showers and cold drinks of water and sports drink in between and I loved it. Now I am pregnant I go for for 5 mins max and I dink cold water while in the steam room and I monitor my temperature and rinse with cold water for 3-5 mins before going back in again to repeat. I go to the gym about 3 times a week now instead of daily. My OB said to make sure I don't overheat and to drink plenty water with ice that is all. I am now 19 weeks and healthy. You know your body best so talk to your doctor about your condition.
I would stay out of the hot tub though you don't know what is swimming around in there.

It is important to relax during pregnancy. There is nothing wrong with taking a steam bath or sauna AS LONG AS you keep it short so that you don't overheat (getting dizzy, feeling lightheaded or feeling short of breath is a sign that you have been in too long so don't stay too long).

By the way all this assumes you and your fetus (soon to be cute baby) are healthy physically and you are emotionally healthy. I stayed out the sauna until after my 12 week ultrasound when I got the confirmation that all looked normal.
I wish you well and don't let anyone scare you with over simplified jargon.