For many women, going to the sauna is an integral part of life. But with the onset of pregnancy, a lot in the way of life has to be changed. The question naturally arises about the admissibility of visiting the sauna while waiting for the child.
How does it work?
The sauna is a Finnish analogue of the classic Russian bath, only the steam in it is not wet, but dry, since it is not customary to put a tank or tub of water in the steam room there. In general, the effect of baths and saunas on the body is similar.
During pregnancy, the load on all organs and systems of the female body increases significantly, and therefore it is considered more favorable in the absence of contraindications to breathe the moist air of a Russian bath.
The Finnish sauna, being drier and hotter, is generally not recommended for expectant mothers. Nevertheless, in some cases, visiting it is not prohibited, and here it is important to understand to whom, when and how to properly go to the sauna during pregnancy.
About the benefits
It has long been known that going to a sauna or a bath is akin to relaxation, it helps to cleanse yourself of toxins and toxins, improve your well-being, mood, tidy up the nervous system, and relieve stress. A visit to the bathhouse for pregnant women is also useful in that inhalation of hot humid air helps to cleanse and expand the bronchi, and improve blood circulation.
A healthy woman during pregnancy will only benefit from a sauna, it improves the condition of the skin, hardens the body, trains the immune system, which usually weakens significantly with the onset of pregnancy.
But you need to understand that before deciding to go to the sauna, a woman must definitely find out what her attending physician thinks about this. If the health of the expectant mother is far from ideal, the conditions of the sauna can act as provocateurs of miscarriage, premature birth, placental abruption.
In Finland, the homeland of the sauna, it is believed that a visit to a steam room by pregnant women contributes to easier childbirth, and therefore is strongly encouraged, but again in the absence of obvious and hidden contraindications.
With all the benefits of the sauna, doctors in Russia are in no hurry to give the go-ahead to pregnant women to visit it. The fact is that today there are very few women with good health, and every second pregnancy occurs with one or another deviation, pathology, and complications.
Who is strictly prohibited?
Pregnant women are not advised to go to the sauna if they have any chronic diseases, even if they have not manifested themselves in any way in recent years. The load that our body experiences in a steam room can be a starting mechanism for the exacerbation of an old disease.
Also, you should refrain from visiting the Finnish bath for the following factors:
- epilepsy;
- oncological diseases and any tumors;
- hypertension;
- bronchial asthma;
- hemorrhoids in acute form;
- threatened miscarriage or premature birth;
- placenta presentation, chorionic presentation;
- pregnancy with twins or triplets;
- in the early stages and in recent weeks.
You cannot visit the bathhouse at the beginning of the 1st trimester, there are even no complications, and the woman feels great.
During this period, the process of embryogenesis takes place, all the internal organs and systems of the baby are laid. Any impact, including heat, can disrupt this process. In the 2nd trimester, in the absence of other contraindications, going to the sauna is not prohibited. The end of the 3rd trimester is considered not the best time to steam, since the load on the body in the late stages is already high.
Besides, you should refuse to visit the sauna if there is any inflammatory process in the body of the expectant mother, with severe toxicosis, gestosis, the appearance of unusual discharge from the genital tract, with an increase in temperature, as well as with diarrhea or constipation.
Rules and guidelines
If the attending physician has nothing against a woman with excellent health visiting the sauna during pregnancy, it is worth adhering to some recommendations that will reduce possible risks to a minimum.
- It is better to bathe in short runs for 1-2 minutes. The total duration of stay in the steam room should not exceed 5 minutes for the entire sauna session.
- Any malaise, dizziness, the occurrence of any pain is a reason to leave the sauna. You should enlist the support of someone close to you in advance, who will monitor your well-being and provide assistance in time if necessary.
- From the steam room you cannot immediately plunge into a cold pool - this is fraught with vasospasm. It is better to cool off with a warm shower, gradually lowering the water temperature.
- More often ask to pour water on stones in the steam room so that the air in it is sufficiently humid - dry hot air is harmful to expectant mothers.
- Cover your head with a felt bath cap and cover your shoulders, if necessary, with a damp sheet, this will help to avoid systemic overheating. Do not sit on hot benches without first laying towels or sheets on them.
- Provide yourself with plenty of drink, take a bottle of still water, fruit drink or homemade compote without sugar, rosehip decoction well quenches your thirst. Drink each time you visit the steam room.
- Do not lie on your back in the steam room, as this can compress the inferior vena cava and cause collapse.
- Be sure to take rubber slippers with grooved soles to prevent slipping - this will help prevent falls and injury. Walk leisurely.
- If you have concerns about hygiene (someone else's sauna, perhaps poorly processed after previous visitors), take Miramistin with you. This affordable antiseptic will help to treat hands, external genitals in time before the start of a bath session, as well as after it. Packing wet wipes with antibacterial impregnation to wipe the benches, table, handrails in the pool will not hurt either.
Even if the doctor has not forbidden the sauna, you should not visit it more than twice a month. If, before the onset of pregnancy, the woman was not a big fan of the sauna and did not visit it regularly, it is definitely not worth starting to do this while waiting for the baby.
Any body needs time for quality adaptation, and pregnancy is not the best period to test health for strength.
Infrared sauna
Today only the lazy have not heard about the benefits of the infrared sauna created by the Japanese. In fact, it is a small wooden room with sources of infrared radiation. It is it that quickly warms up the body. Under the influence of infrared radiation, some pathogenic bacteria are destroyed, and the production of immune cells is activated, the task of which is to fight any pathogens that enter the human body.
Despite the obvious benefits of visiting an infrared sauna, pregnant women are not recommended for such a procedure for any period. It can lead to very sad consequences.
Rapid activation of the immune system is dangerous for the child, after all, in the body of the expectant mother, the hormone progesterone does the opposite - it reduces immunity in order to save the baby from a quick reprisal from active immune complexes. Should we negate the efforts of progesterone? Most likely no. therefore you will have to enjoy the infrared sauna after childbirth.
