diving whilst pregnant?

[lostinspace]

seems to be an absolute no-no, but does anyone have any hard evidence, research etc?

 

[ScubaDadMiami]

The majority of records are of women that were diving early into their pregnancies, before knowing that they were pregnant. They were followed to term with no birth defects or miscarriages beyond the normal statistics.

 

[opiniongirl]

Experiments were done with sheep a long time ago, with effects on fetus and compression. Results weren't good. I believe that no further research has been conducted on human (apart from accidental) due to those results.

DAN probably has more specific data on these tests - check their online database.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

There have been many, many threads posted on this subject. You could do a search and read thro all the threads, but the general thought I gained from it was that while there hasn't been a specific study done (who wants to subject a human embryo to this with possible disasterous results??), it is generally accepted that women do not dive while pregant. Snorkeling is ok. One of the biggest problems is the bouyancy issue. I snorkeled in my fifth month and was so bouyant that I could not dive more than a few feet before I lifted up like a big ole balloon!

 

[RonFrank]

seems to be an absolute no-no, but does anyone have any hard evidence, research etc?

You or your spouse DID dive while pregnant, and something went wrong?

IMO sport diving is NOT a requirement for anyone, so why would one want to take the risk.

Also how exactly could research be done? We like to think that we understand how everything in our world works, but the reality is we are rather clueless about many things.

Ron

 

[lostinspace]

You or your spouse DID dive while pregnant, and something went wrong?

no and no. that's an assumption too far.

IMO sport diving is NOT a requirement for anyone, so why would one want to take the risk.

because most people don't get pregnant on the first shot, and it takes a few weeks to know you are pregnant.

Also how exactly could research be done? We like to think that we understand how everything in our world works, but the reality is we are rather clueless about many things.

by analysing what happened when people did do it.

 

[lostinspace]

There have been many, many threads posted on this subject. You could do a search and read thro all the threads, but the general thought I gained from it was that while there hasn't been a specific study done (who wants to subject a human embryo to this with possible disasterous results??), it is generally accepted that women do not dive while pregant. Snorkeling is ok. One of the biggest problems is the bouyancy issue. I snorkeled in my fifth month and was so bouyant that I could not dive more than a few feet before I lifted up like a big ole balloon!

SJ - that's what I thought - and thanks for the funny mental image!

 

[lostinspace]

scubadad - thanks.
Og - thanks - do you have a link where I can find the DAN database - google gives way too many links!

 

[aussie_shark_bait]

When I lived at Honiara there was one lady who continued to dive her entire pregnancy, with no known side effects to her child.

I personally didn't dive throughout my prenancy, I did continue to snorkel and found it a great way to excercise as my right hip had popped out of its joint at work, and until I gave birth the physio did not want to attempt putting it back together, i found walking far more difficult.

I didn't need any hard evidence myself to stop diving, I always took my doctors advice on what to avoid e.g. aged cheese such as brie, aged meats, salami, aged ham, avoided all the medications etc.. without needing the hard evidence so when friends asked me why i had stopped diving i said although it isn't conclusive i am not going to risk it, i had previously miscarried (i didn't dive throughout the course of that pregnancy either) and couldn't see myself going and diving and living with any consequences that may have broken my heart again. I did however go diving about 3 weeks after the birth which was soooooo good. I was at the end of it just dying to get out of the water to see if my son was okay - the first time i left him, the dive only lasted 30mins but it was good.

 

[RonFrank]

most people don't get pregnant on the first shot, and it takes a few weeks to know you are pregnant..

The OW manual indicates to discontinue diving if pregnant, or if attempting to get pregnant.

So the recomendation is stop if you are trying to get pregnant, don't wait until you know for sure.

= "How could research be performed?
by analysing what happened when people did do it.

While they *could* compile data based on woman who were pregnant, it would be next to impossible to draw conclusions because pregnancy is largly NOT understood. Since a very large % of pregnancies result in early termination for mostly unknown reasons, forming conclusions on diving during this time period would be next to impossible.

There are doctors that suggest a large number of pregnancies are lost in the first month without the woman ever knowing she was pregnant.

IMHO, if you are attempting to conceive, stop diving.

Ron