Truth: This is false. Baths are very good for pregnant women. The problem is more the temperature than the actual bath.

Be sure that you avoid the use of hot tubs and hot baths (above 100 degrees F). These can cause your body temperature to rise, and this can cause problems for a developing baby, particularly in the first trimester.

Baths are a great source of relaxation and also work well for the aches and pains of pregnancy.

Your baby is not in danger of getting germs from bathing. The baby is protected by the amniotic sac and the mucous plug. Although we have done studies that have shown that water doesn't really enter the vagina during bathing anyway. -- Robin Weiss

Comments: This is a thoroughly modern superstition, given that germs and their relationship to disease were unknown prior to the 19th century. It was Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), a French scientist looking for ways to improve the quality of his nation's beer, who first understood the function of bacteria and promoted better hygiene as a way of staving off disease.

It's ironic that Pasteur's discoveries, responsible for saving the lives of countless women in childbirth due to improved sanitary practices, should result in the myth that bathing during pregnancy endangers the health of the fetus. But simple misunderstandings of fact are often the precursors of questionable folk wisdom.

Superstitions about pregnancy and childbirth were even more common in ancient times, of course, but fear of bathing was not among them. In fact, Roman physicians encouraged regular baths for pregnant women. Soranus of Ephenus, writing in the second century A.D., advised bathing in "sweet water" and drinking wine for relaxation throughout pregnancy. Something tells me modern obstetricians might take issue with with the latter. -- David Emery

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