Photographs of a six-months pregnant Britney Spears spreadeagled on a Malibu beach in 80-degree temperatures have prompted something of a brouhaha. One suspects that this furore has less to do with the fact that Britney is sunbathing pregnant than the fact that the media is hellbent on portraying Spears as an irresponsible mother. However, it does raise an interesting question, during these sweltering temperatures, of whether sunbathing can affect your unborn child.
Sunbathing is foolish for anyone - a fact that most of us know well but frequently ignore. For pregnant women, who have a higher body temperature, it is perhaps a smidgen more foolish: the sun will increase the core temperature of the mother, which will in turn increase the temperature of the foetus. According to Robin Elise Weiss, a childbirth and postpartum educator and a mother of seven, raising the temperature of the foetus "can cause brain damage if raised high enough or long enough".
The advice from Sue Jacobs of the Royal College of Midwives is a little less sensational: "Increased temperature later in pregnancy has a risk of starting premature labour," she explains, though she adds that this is, apparently, only if you insist upon basking in the sun for hours at a time.
Perhaps more concerning for the princess of pop is that during pregnancy, hormones, particularly oestrogen, can increase the risk of developing cholasma, which appears as darkened spots on the face and body, usually on the forehead and across the nose, which may not disappear after pregnancy. Accordingly, the Bupa website advises pregnant women: "If you want to be out in the sun, put on lots of high-factor suncream (at least SPF15), and sit under the shade of a leafy tree."
But there is some good news for Britney and other expectant women, and that is, according to Jacobs, the fact that "sunlight metabolises vitamin D, which is good for bone formation, and it makes you feel better." So the midwifery body's message to sun-worshipping mothers-to-be during the heatwave is a moderate: "Enjoy it, but go easy." That goes for you too, Spears.
