Members

As a member you'll be able to receive and send messages, keep your own photobook, agenda, ask questions, participate in the chat, and make new friends. All is free and you don't need email.
Sign up (free & anonymous)

Name: Password:

---

Activity
• Now online | Member search | New members | Comment Spy
• New blogs & Questions | Recently updated profiles
• New photos: Pregnancy | Babies | Bellies | Ultrasound | Member pages
• Latest comments: Forums | Week by week | Baby development

Write a new blog

---

08-7-2008 - tanning while pregnant

My mood while writing this blog: good

---

I talked with the girl who owns the tanning salon where I go and she said she had gone to a convention where she found out that tanning will not harm the baby in my belly. She told me pregnant women ask her all the time if it's ok to tan while pregnant. Of coarse I had several concerns like overheating, she said U.S. federal law for tanning beds states a bed can not generate heat higher than 102F and my salon has A/C and fans. She suggested I use the stand up "bed" so it would be more comfortable. Also she learned that the UV or UVB rays can not penetrate through the skin all the way through to the baby. She actually told me that the low presure beds with the UVB rays are good for me and baby because of the vitamin d. I always feel good after I do go because it's relaxing. Hmm, I think I am gonna go tanning now. Anyone else have opinions?? (I didn't tan with my first baby, but never really looked into it.)

---

3 Comments on tanning while pregnant


kelli - Saturday, 16 Aug
i'm not against it, because i know plenty of people who have done it, and there babies are healthy. i hate looking pale it makes me feel unnattractive. haha. i just tanned outside this summer, and i'm due october, so i might go a few times when it starts getting colder.

JennRunyon524 - Tuesday, 8 Jul
oh gosh, well I wouldn't advise it. I worked a tanning salon for years and it's definately not good for pregnant women! I asked my doc about laying out in the sun and he says i can be in the sun, just not "laying out" swimming and stuff is fine however just basking in the sunlight wasn't good for me nor the baby! I'd just suck it up for the next three months and buy some self tanner or do as i do and go get a spray tan! The airbrush ones where someone actually sprays you (not the booths) are actually way better than just hitting the tanning bed! It's like a tan in 20 min haha! :) Don't worry dear, in no time you'll be able to go tanning..I can't wait for that day as well, however right now..I wouldn't risk it! xoxo

harpchick - Tuesday, 8 Jul
Tanning is super bad during pregnancy! I worked as an EMT on ambulances for many years and I had a "frequent flier" whose internal organs had been irreversibly damaged by tanning booths. No matter what individual salon owners say, people are being hurt. The owner of a tanning salon probably isn't the most objective source for an opinion on this; my doc even advises against sitting outside tanning in *natural* sunlight because pregnancy hormones can make your skin react in unexpected ways to UV light and you are more prone to burns. Depending on how far along you are in your pregnancy, your fetus can also see light-- and if you're not supposed to tan without goggles, why on earth do that to the fetus with such unnaturally strong light? As for the Vitamin D sales pitch, you can get more than enough Vitamin D by going for a short walk each day; the concentrated amounts they're talking about in a tanning context are not the healthiest way to get it. I suggest you talk to your doc before salon tanning-- bet you they agree with what I'm saying here. On a bright note, many over-the-counter tanning creams do a terrific job at defeating the pasty whiteness without the risks of UV exposure. How should I know? I grew up in England. Brits *invented* pasty white skin, and the self-tanner creams keep me healthy *and* not looking like a corpse...