Pregnant women who exercise outside on warm days or spend a little time in a hot bath or sauna may not necessarily raise their body temperature enough to cause problems, a research review suggests. While most women without health problems can safely exercise during pregnancy, doctors discourage workouts in hot weather because it can lead to heat stress and dehydration. The risks of heat exposure from warm weather exercise, saunas and hot tubs are thought to develop when the internal body temperature reaches at least 39 C, researchers note in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. For the current study, researchers examined body temperature data from 12 previously published studies of 347 pregnant women who exercised outside during hot weather, took hot baths or used saunas or hot tubs. The study also wasn't a controlled experiment designed to prove whether saunas, hot baths or warm weather workouts are safe for mothers or babies, or what duration or intensity of activity might be safest.

Source: CBC News March 29, 2018 15:33 UTC