Swimming in chlorinated pool?

[Skywalker]

I love swimming, and my midwife suggested I start swimming again, even if I'm just walking in the pool. I am leery of soaking my skin in chlorine while pregnant. Couldn't that be harmful to the baby?

 

[Misscalais]

I swam throughout both pregnancies salt and chlorinated. Two perfectly normal healthy boys

 

[Yipee]

Here's an interesting article I found https://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20020408/pool-water-risky-during-pregnancy . A quick Google search will turn up many more articles saying there may be some risk.

Yes, a lot of people swim in chlorinated pools during pregnancy and their babies are fine, but that doesn't mean there is no risk at all.

For me, I would stay out of public pools during first trimester at least, since they are heavily chlorinated, and first tri is when you are most likely to develop birth defects. The time that you'll really, really crave the weightlessness of the water is in second and third tri anyway, when you start feeling really big and heavy.

I'm 37 weeks now, and swim every day, but we set up a small above-ground pool in our backyard and keep the chlorine levels really low; nothing like a public pool. You can buy inflatable above-ground pools for pretty cheap, and as long as they're at least a few feet deep, you can float and kick and do some good stretching. Having mine has made a huge difference throughout third tri. While most other people have back and hip problems by now, I am totally pain-free.

 

[Skywalker]

Thanks for your answers ladies! It seems swimming is a great exercise for pregnancy. I'm a bit worried because most articles I've looked at said beware of indoor, public, heated swimming pools, which is what I would be going to until it got a bit warmer around December when I could swim in the ocean again, but by then I'd be well into my second trimester. I sent my midwife an e-mail to ask her about it and I'll see what she says. The public pool that I'd be swimming in probably has heaps of chlorine, more than a private pool, because it's a public pool which lots of people use, and it's not heated to be super warm but it's warm enough that it might cause vapour to rise so you're breathing in chlorine, and it's not outdoor, so the ventilation isn't as good as it could be. I hope she says it's all right because I really love swimming! I used to go almost every weekend and I would love to be able to keep fit, even if I just start out wading around.

 

[Misscalais]

I definitely wouldn't swim in a heated pool that's for sure, I can't even swim in those when not pregnant because the chlorine is so strong it burns my eyes and face ends up blotchy.
Swimming is very nice to do when pregnant and especially in the third tri.
We have a metal frame pool we will be putting up for summer and ill just use that and the beach if we get the chance

 

[Skywalker]

Yeah, I can't wait for it to warm up so that I can go swimming in the ocean! I miss it. Maybe I'll be able to just walk on my treadmill until then so I'm at least doing something. I used to run before and even while pregnant (though I didn't realize I was pregnant and thought I was just seriously out of breath lol) but I stopped for these last few weeks since I wasn't feeling well so it would almost be like starting fresh if I started running now, which I've been told not to do. It's fine to KEEP running if you've been running since before, but since I stopped for so long, I think I'd better walk until the beaches open for swimming! I also found some really good youtube videos for pregnancy exercises to stay fit so I'll probably try those, as well!

 

[Yipee]

Yeah, I think that would be safest Indoor public pools are pretty awful; I hate going to them even not pregnant.