Q: Since tracking your basal body temperature to identify rises in temperature could signal that you ovulating, what effect do air conditioners have on BBT and getting pregnant?
A: It's unlikely that air conditioning affects your temperature to a significant level. Your daily temperature should be plotted over time, and evaluated at the end of the cycle. Even minor daily changes should not affect the recognition of ovulation.
It's important to stay cool in early pregnancy, too. According to research completed by QUT (Queensland University of Technology), pregnant women need to stay cool during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy to decrease the risk of miscarriage and birth defects.
Researchers noted that when the air temperature was around 59 degrees F, the risk of stillbirths hovered around 350 per 100,000 births. When the median temperature rose of around 73 degrees F, the number of stillbirths rose to more than 600 per 100,000 births. Researchers noted no increase in stillbirths when temperatures averaged higher than 73 degrees F. It was noted that pregnant women may seek air-conditioned areas when temperatures increased and thus a change in stillbirth rate was not noted.
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