When you’re pregnant, it can be a struggle to feel pretty. As you watch your belly expand, your ankles swell into sausages, and your breasts blow up like balloons, you wonder if you’ll ever be attractive again. You can do some things to improve your look, which includes lovely garments and fab looking hair and make-up, but if you’re pregnant during the summer months, you may wonder if it’s safe for you to do any sun-tanning during pregnancy.

No one wants to hurt their baby, and that is possible even before it is born if you subject it to the wrong circumstances. Although the majority only concentrate on the idea of tanning beds being harmful to their unborn child, it is actually only one of the things to think about before trying to achieve that sun-bronzed glow.

Let’s commence with tanning beds in our discussion of tanning during pregnancy. Although there is no proof that the beds themselves are damaging to the baby, there is evidence that excessive heat could cause spinal defects. In addition, there were studies which have linked UV rays with a deficiency in folic acid. Folic acid is extremely important, especially during the first trimester, in preventing neural tube effects, such as spina bifida.

On top of the things that tanning beds can do to your baby, you also have to consider the damage it can do to you. During pregnancy, your whole body chemistry changes. Your skin is more susceptible to burning and to the development of unsightly dark splotches and skin cancers.

Getting a tan out on the beach or even outside generally has the same risks as those caused by tanning beds. Too much heat, delicate skin exposed to the elements with higher chances of bad burns and discoloration, and UV rays are just as bad when caused by the sun as they are by artificial rays, so it’s best to limit your sun exposure as long as you’re pregnant. Even after pregnancy, you’ll still be smart to avoid the UV rays which cause carcinoma of the skin.

After governing out tanning beds and time spent in the sun, that leaves the choice of getting a tan from a bottle which seems to be the best alternative if you actually feel you need to get a tan. Even so, many consultants believe that you’re better off waiting at least until the end of your first trimester to use chemical tanning products, because noone really knows if the chemicals will penetrate the skin and do the baby harm. Tanning during pregnancy just isn’t the best idea.