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I own a 16 bulb tanning bed and stopped using it since I found out I was pregnant... which I am now 14 weeks along and just out of my 1st trimester. Im seriously thinking of starting back in it again for 15 or 20 minutes at a time...(Its a 30 minute bed so 15 minutes isnt much) I dont see the difference in using my bed or tanning outside on a hot day. As long as a person uses common sense and doesnt over do it by over heating then its "safe", according to 2 different doctors Ive talked to anyway.

my doctor told me i was allowed to tan once a week. he told me not to go more than once a week and he told me to drink lots of water before and after i tan. he also advised me to use a fan if they have one in the bed... and to go for only half the time instead of the full time. i think this is your safest bet if you dont want to be white and pasty but dont want to over do it getting to hot and dehydrated. i mean i am 7 in a half months pregnant and so far so good... i have been tanning. but i was in the hospital emergency center because i kept fevering and feeling sick. turns out i was dehydrated and low on pota__sium and iron.... because i was tanning more than once a week at the maximum time and not drinking enough water. thank god nothing serious happened. so my best advice is to limit your tanning if you want to go to once a week and do half the time instead of the full time... oh and lots of water!

I finally routed to this site in a FRANTIC effort to ease my panic after learning of my recent conception!!! I have been to a tanning booth at least 5 times over the past 6.5 wks of my baby's new life & I wanted to be sure she/he was healthy ...not because I am too vain to stop tanning, or to use sunscreen, etc...Most of these postings are about the vanity & 'so called ignorance' of new mothers. I BEG TO DIFFER. I have only recently(not "fake tanning" in ancient beds for 10+ yrs) joined a salon last month, &actually planned to cancel after a severe PEELING burn I experienced following a 10 MINUTE SESSION!?! WHAT is in these new devices that could do that!?! This is WHY I am WORRIED for my fetus!!! ANYONE who uses a tanning facility these days should question if a 30$ per month package at Tanline is worth permanent skin damage & the inevitable harm to any growing egg, sperm, or fetus---PERIOD. I still have yet to find my answer, & I hope I don't have to ask the pretty, young, DUMB blonde& burned teenage babes at my salon to answer the most important question they will ever need to know while employed at the fake bake station!!!!! If you read this, you know you came here to find the same answers I need. I feel most women who posted where misinterpreted & just want THE FACTS. We should have a way to appeal to the FDA to better regulate warnings for every tanning salon---I didn't even get a copy of my contract with the place ( much to my husband's dismay) & yet they can automatically draw each month any fee (they may decide to change after our original agreement). I think it is OUTRAGEOUS & completely unprofessional--not to mention a crime against our person or young persons in -utero. Call your Better Business Bureau to report anything not disclosed to you while tanning. It is our duty to every unborn child. God Bless You!!

I just want to add, I AM an educated woman who majored in Bio-Chemistry & Mathematics with a minor in Physics...before my dear angels blessed my belly. I KNOW what these rays can do. And I also KNOW there is no scheduled regulation by the FDA to monitor any change in the level of rays, even after the bulbs have been changed. I want to also add that Momx3 is right!!!! All of the things she lists can be ever so much more harmful to young children & a pregnant woman +fetus!!! I know of too many (sorry) IGNORAMOUSES who can't part with a nippy, c___pping pet, or stop cleaning their homes in excess---then wonder why their children have asthma, or pnuemonia, and every other infection due to the over exposure to allergens & toxic chemicals that damage their fragile immune systems!! (Sorry to the woman who offered a laugh about her mom in the cotton field while pregnant.)..*smile* but..I'm sure back in my Mom's day, the lye was a lot safer than the Oxy-clean & bleaching agents that offer us mom's a "no-scrub clean"?!?!?!? WHOA---I really am too newly-pregnant-outspoken to continue & I apologize if I offended anyone!~!

my opinion is, if it is such a controversy, why risk it? i work at hooters, and was tanning before i found out i was pg, and as soon as i found out i started doing research on the net before i could get to the dr. all the research that i found indicated that there were no proven facts of it being harmful, or unharmful. basically what i gathered from the articles that i read is that it is like flipping a coin.........50,50. but why even take the risk. TRUST me i know being tan is nice, i have to show up at work everyday in front of these tiny, dark, beautiful girls, BUT beauty would never out weigh the health of MY innocent baby. if i were ya'll i just wouldn't take the chance, there's no proof that it's not harmful. good luck!!

I am 39w 2d right now and know what it was like to be pale and white during the summer. Before I got pregnant, I tanned all the time and was a really nice bronzed color. Tanning will not affect the baby and if thats what you need to do to feel attractive while pregnant, GOD KNOWS I DIDN'T!!!!!!!!, then do it!

From my research the risks a__sociated with tanning while pregnant has nothing to do with UV rays. Obviously they can't reach the baby if they can't go through cloth... The risk lies in overheating the baby by tanning too long. An easy fix is to cut a couple minutes off your tanning time while pregnant, covering your lower abdomen with a towel for the last few minutes, set the fan on high, etc. As with anything, moderation is the key. However, since there is no for sure answer on wether tanning is safe while pregnant, if you are THAT concerned with the health of your baby, don't tan or do Mystic instead.

I own a tanning salon and Ive looked it up not to mention asked my own doctor and it will not hurt the baby. im 25 weeks along and i tan once a week for 10 minutes to maintain my tan, and my baby is perfect! the uv rays only penetrate under the top layer of skin its not like a microwave it doesnt cook you on the inside! the rays are just like the sun outside.....just drink water before and after and dont get too hot!

Tanning does NOT hurt the baby. The Uv rays do not go through your boby to your uterus. Your only concern should be overheating..Make sure you stay cool..

Why would you want to? Raising your body temperature is dangerous for the baby.

The tanning salon that I go to actually will NOT let me go anymore b/c I am pregnant and my friend wasn't allowed to go while she was b___st feeding either, maybe the owner just has her own policy...I don't know but I wouldn't risk it anyways...

your business must be bad to say this or you are full of c___p Cause I know I close friend who has one and no way will she let anyone preg use hers and in the contract you have to sign it even stats that it will harm the effect of baby . She goes to the states for concentions for tanning salones all the time I see the imfo she brings back and no a liget place will not allow it and for everyone unsure still just ask your doctor he will tell you

I used to manage a tanning salon and I dont think we let people tan if they were prego. One girl that worked there didnt do it alot but tanned a couple times b/c her doctor told her as long as it doesnt get to hot it will be fine. But why would you want to just use the spray or mist tans. Or can you not use those?

Well, I conceived after thousands of dollars spent on fertility specialists... and they tell me that as long as I don't over heat, then tanning is perfectly fine, at least as safe as tanning can be for anyone.they say my skin will be more sensative, so I might burn easier, but this has absolutely nothing to do with the baby. I would think a fertility specialist would be extra careful with baby, so when she says go for it if that is what I need to do to feel pretty, then I sure as heck will go for it!

My doctor told me that it was totally fine, that the only thing to be worried about is the mask of pregnancy.

I just found out that I am 6 weeks and I was going tanning before and I don't know if I should stop now. But I still hve been going twice a week for about 10 min and I have been using the stand up. I still have to ask my dr, but my friends dr told her that it was fine as long as she didn't get too hot. She had her baby on Thanksgiving and she is beautiful.