Kent MB (ed). Effects of Diving on Pregnancy. 19th Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Workshop. UHMS Publication Number 36(EDP)1-31-80. Bethesda: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society; 1978; 13 pages. RRR ID: 4250
Recommendations:
1. There is no contraindication to diving for the normal, healthy non-pregnant female. The same general health criteria should apply to both male and female divers.
2. The fetus may be at greater risk than the diving mother. The potential risk primarily consists of decompression sickness, but hyperoxia, hypoxia, hypercapnia and asphyxia may also be involved.
3. There is insufficient experimental evidence at this time to establish diving depth and time profiles that are definitely not hazardous to the human fetus. Although a large number of women have dived while pregnant, results of epidemiological studies on the fetal effects of these dives on the fetuses have not yet been thoroughly analyzed.
4. The number of unanswered questions about the effects of diving on the human fetus should encourage physicians to inform their patients of the potential risks and to advise them to act in the most conservative manner.
5. Pregnant women who choose to dive against medical advice should be informed that the potential risk to the fetus apparently increases as the no-decompression limits are approached, as the oxygen tension of the inspired gas increases, and perhaps also as a function of other factors that remain unidentified.
6. Until further studies are made, we recommend that women who are pregnant not dive.
Fife W (ed). Women in Diving. 35th Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Workshop. UHMS Publication Number 71(WS-WD)3-15-87. Bethesda: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society; 1987; 162 pages. RRR ID: 4251
---Chapter on 'Pregnancy and Diving' by Lanphier
DAN FAQ Number 103
Recommendations:
1. There is no contraindication to diving for the normal, healthy non-pregnant female. The same general health criteria should apply to both male and female divers.
2. The fetus may be at greater risk than the diving mother. The potential risk primarily consists of decompression sickness, but hyperoxia, hypoxia, hypercapnia and asphyxia may also be involved.
3. There is insufficient experimental evidence at this time to establish diving depth and time profiles that are definitely not hazardous to the human fetus. Although a large number of women have dived while pregnant, results of epidemiological studies on the fetal effects of these dives on the fetuses have not yet been thoroughly analyzed.
4. The number of unanswered questions about the effects of diving on the human fetus should encourage physicians to inform their patients of the potential risks and to advise them to act in the most conservative manner.
5. Pregnant women who choose to dive against medical advice should be informed that the potential risk to the fetus apparently increases as the no-decompression limits are approached, as the oxygen tension of the inspired gas increases, and perhaps also as a function of other factors that remain unidentified.
6. Until further studies are made, we recommend that women who are pregnant not dive.
Fife W (ed). Women in Diving. 35th Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society Workshop. UHMS Publication Number 71(WS-WD)3-15-87. Bethesda: Undersea and Hyperbaric Medical Society; 1987; 162 pages. RRR ID: 4251
---Chapter on 'Pregnancy and Diving' by Lanphier
DAN FAQ Number 103