diving during pregnancy

[ShoalDiverSA]

I wasn't sure if there was a timeframe on when was safe and when you should stop diving. Was hoping 1st tri would be ok? Most wouldn't know they even were at the stage I will be. 6-8wks Better to be safe then sorry since there seems to be no definate answers.

Hi Dawn and everyone,

My wife and I fell pregnant 15 weeks ago (you've got to love technology!). I did a lot of reading on the subject with our previous pregnancy as we purchased all her SCUBA gear two days before we found out that she was pregnant . To answer your question, my summary of the generally held medical opinions is to cease diving as soon as you know you are pregnant.

The dilemma for us was finding the safest time to stop diving. Realistically you cannot guarantee that a pregnant woman won't dive, because there is a lag between conception and knowledge of the conception AND falling pregnant is not an exact science (effort does not always equal results). The logical extension of this is that no fertile woman who is trying to fall pregnant should dive. We did not feel that this was rational and continued diving together until she fell pregnant. She ceased diving as soon as she missed her period.

This last pregnancy, we had booked a dive trip to Mozambique for 4 days, which she had to sit out entirely (risk of malaria as well). Such are the sacrifices of parenthood.

I know that it slips easily from my tongue/fingertip as I do not bear the child, but the father also has to deal with the issue sensitively. During the first pregnancy, my wife did not want me to dive without her, so I stopped. For my birthday, 4 months into the pregnancy, she gave me a couple of dives as a gift and gave her blessing for me to continue diving. If I expect her to stop for our child's health then I must be prepared to do the same (albeit for different reasons).

I have found a wonderful alternative to her diving during pregnancy. We bought a digital camera and housing. I now take lots of photos during the dive. We sit at home and I give her a blow by blow (bubble by bubble) account of the dive while reviewing the photos.

I must admit that I am shocked by the maverick attitude displayed by certain people on the Board to their children's lives and wellbeing. Parenthood is a sacrifice - the sooner a parent realises this, the better for the family. Your life will change - this is unavoidable.

There are a thousand clever arguments why diving while pregnant should be OK and even more isolated examples of people who did it and got away with it. But our children are worth more to us than our diving.

All the best for your efforts to fall pregnant. Remember to not try too hard and above all else enjoy yourself!

Cheers,

Andrew

 

[DivePartner1]

A friend of mine was feeling queasy after a recent dive trip and found out that she was 5 to 7 weeks pregnant during the trip. Can anyone refer us to any information on the risks?

She used to dive professionally (full time job, not instructor of recreational divers) and is very safe. She wouldn't have gone if she'd known.

She did a dozen dives, most to 60 feet with average depths of about 40 feet. The deepest dive was to 130 feet for about five minutes of bottom time.

 

[Bob3]

A friend of mine was feeling queasy after a recent dive trip and found out that she was 5 to 7 weeks pregnant during the trip. Can anyone refer us to any information on the risks?

She used to dive professionally (full time job, not instructor of recreational divers) and is very safe. She wouldn't have gone if she'd known.

She did a dozen dives, most to 60 feet with average depths of about 40 feet. The deepest dive was to 130 feet for about five minutes of bottom time.

I'd recommend contacting the lady previously mentioned at DAN.
I strongly suspect that the answer will be "don't worry, but don't do any more diving".
Ditto on the snorkeling, spending a lot of time in the water is a good thing.

 

[Dr Deco]

Hello divepartner 1:

Pregnancy and Diving

There is no laboratory information to my knowledge on diving and pregnancy in the first trimester. Several studies have been performed but the most complete still remains the one reported by me. In this study, sheep were monitored non-invasively from the middle of the second trimester to the time of delivery.

We found that bubbles were produced by the fetal sheep even though they had never been exposed to air (introduction of micronuclei). This led us to believe that nuclei are generated by musculoskeletal activity. The good news is that a very small fetus in the first trimester is not extremely active. I doubt that micronuclei generation would be a big worry (but I have no proof.) Therefore, decompression bubble growth in the first trimester is probably not a big worry.

Caveat

I say this with respect to those who dive and are not aware of the pregnancy. This is not the same as a suggestion to ignore the condition if you already are aware of it and dive anyway.

Dr Deco :doctor:


References

MR Powell and MT Smith. Fetal gas phase formation following decompression from hyperbaric environments. Undersea Biomed. Res., 12 (1), 59-68 (1985).

 

[DivePartner1]

Thanks, Bob. I spoke with DAN. They say this happens by accident a few times a year. Not a good idea but no documented consequences in humans.

 

[Delboy]

Hi

Read the following link

www.bsac.org/techserv/T4.pdf

Have a good one

Delboy

New to this board but looking for answer to diving during pregnancy.

My husband and I are planning a trip to Disney with the intent of experiencing DiveQuest. This is a chance to dive in their 6 million gallon aquarium. The tank is 200 ft dia and 27 ft deep. I actually received a new underwater camera for xmas so that I can take pics while there. The question I must now ask is will this be safe if I am pregnant? There is a possibility that I may be 8 weeks at the time we have our trip scheduled.

I don't see a posibility of nitrogen narcossis being a factor since the tank is only 27 ft but are their other things I should be concerned about that may put the baby at risk. It is a controlled enviroment with no dive boat needed. So sea sickness shouldn't factor in at all. Safety?- It is Disney after all. DiveMaster will be onhand and present at all times.

 

[gemdiver]

you can not bring your camera with you when you do the Disney dive. The only thing you are allowed to bring is your mask.

My bf and I were just talking about this, I had no idea that it was so bad for the unborn child. Thanks for posting this question!

Good luck
Enjoy Disney anyway.
Beth

 

[Genesis]

True. No cameras allowed.

HOWEVER, your SO/spouse/whoever CAN bring a video camera and tape you from the observation area. So you can "tape" the dive, just not from the first-person point of view.

 

[goldfish44]

My question is of the similar nature - diving in very early stages of pregnancy. My husband and I would like to start trying to concieve our first child. We have a Cozumel vacation coming up at the end of March with 3 days of scuba diving. IF I concieve in March - I will be about 11 days pregnant on my last day of diving. We have OWD certification, and will be diving on dive computers and our deepest depth is planned to be about 70 feet.

So, the question is: should we deliberatly try NOT to get pregnant in March knowing that we will be diving? Is being 11 days pregnant and diving (of course, unknowingly, I wouldn't even be able to confirm it) going to have any negative impact on the baby? I understand how it can be dangerous and unadvisable for women with longer terms, but 2 weeks? Or it's still irresponsible to even try concieveing if we know our dive vacation is coming up? I would appreciate the feed back!

 

[Genesis]

I wouldn't do it Kate.

In all probability, if there was a problem you'd have a miscarriage and not even know it if something went wrong (11 days would just be a heavy period) but were I female, and intending to create a child, I certainly wouldn't want that to happen whether you call that incipient child "baby" or "clump of cells" at that point.

Of course there IS the possibility of real horiffic consequences (e.g. birth defects, etc) but irrespective of the FORM of harm, why?

The issue is that the fetus can get DCS independant of you - that is, their circulation system uptakes nitrogen just as yours does (by diffusion through the placenta) and it offgasses as well - and can bubble. You're talking about an extremely fragile circulation (and all other) systems at that point - even small disruptions are likely to be real bad.

I''d wait a month for the trying part....