Pregnant and Diving?

[Bratface]

Unless you are a pregnant fish, you should not be diving. You'll can dive after the baby is born. Don't take a chance injuring yourself and losing your baby. Also as stated before, the effects of diving (pressure, depth, etc) on the fetus is unknown. We do know that Jr. divers are limited in their depth--what do you think it is for the unborn diver?

 

[Dr Deco]

Hello Adrianna:

Pregnancy and Diving

Diving and pregnancy simply do not mix. I do not of any barophysiologists who would dispute this. Years ago, I did a study with pregnant sheep (reference below) that demonstrated (in sheep anyway) that diving to ½ the no-decompression limit was still not safe.

Dr Deco

Powell MR, Smith MT.Fetal and maternal bubbles detected noninvasively in sheep and goats following hyperbaric decompression. Undersea Biomed Res. 1985 Mar;12(1):59-67.

Pregnant sheep and goats were compressed with air to an equivalent depth of 49 msw (160 fsw) for bottom times ranging from 5 to 15 min. Maternal (precordial)
and fetal (umbilical artery) circulation were monitored transcutaneously with a Doppler ultrasound flowmeter to determine the presence of decompression gas
bubbles. It was found that the number of bubbles detected precordially in the maternal circulation exceeded the number detected in the fetal umbilical artery
for any given bottom line. Additionally, bubbles were found in the fetal circulation even when the mother did not display signs of decompression sickness.
Thus, avoidance of symptoms of pain-only decompression sickness in the mother is not sufficient to preclude gas phase formation in the fetus.

 

[Gene_Hobbs]

and the paper for download:

Powell MR, Smith MT.Fetal and maternal bubbles detected noninvasively in sheep and goats following hyperbaric decompression. Undersea Biomed Res. 1985 Mar;12(1):59-67.
RRR ID: 3034

 

[NSMEDIC]

My wife got certified last April...we found out she was pregnant two weeks later. That ended her diving for the summer. Now that Ethan is here we have a lot of dives planned for htis year and hopefully a future dive buddy.

 

[Jennie007]

WHAT DO MEN KNOW ABOUT COMPROMISES BECAUSE OF PREGNANCY? YOU GUYS SHOULD NOT EVEN HAVE THE RIGHT TO EXPRESS AN OPINION ON THIS! Pete!!!!!!

 

[Rick Murchison]

WHAT DO MEN KNOW ABOUT COMPROMISES BECAUSE OF PREGNANCY?

A very great deal indeed. Pregnancy changes everything. Everything.
And while I'm sure there are aspects of compromise from an expecting mother's point of view that I cannot comprehend, so it is with the compromises - many might say sacrifices - that a man makes as an expecting father.
I suppose the depth of the commitment is best expressed in the age-old little quip: "A man will die for his wife; he'll kill for his children."
In the Scuba diving world I know many men who do not dive while their wife is pregnant and until she is ready to dive after delivery. It's been a long time, but I was one of them way back when. I did not curtail any diving while my daughter was pregnant, however.
Rick

 

[spectrum]

WHAT DO MEN KNOW ABOUT COMPROMISES BECAUSE OF PREGNANCY? YOU GUYS SHOULD NOT EVEN HAVE THE RIGHT TO EXPRESS AN OPINION ON THIS! Pete!!!!!!

Life is full of compromises, regardless of gender Jennie. Some bad decisions can be remedied and others cannot be undone. I prefer to avoid the latter and always try to err on the side of caution. Some risks are of such scope that conclusive likelihood of harm is not needed.

I hope you will consider the implications to all involved and take the safe route.

Good luck,
Pete

 

[krunchy]

WHAT DO MEN KNOW ABOUT COMPROMISES BECAUSE OF PREGNANCY? YOU GUYS SHOULD NOT EVEN HAVE THE RIGHT TO EXPRESS AN OPINION ON THIS! Pete!!!!!!

That's a pretty sexist attitude.

 

[Cave Diver]

Source: Diving While Pregnant

Simply stated, pregnant women should not dive. It poses health risks to themselves and their fetus.

Pregnant women have increased amounts of body fat and 3rd-space fluid retention, each of which tends to trap nitrogen and other gasses due to poor circulation through those areas. This predisposes them to decompression sickness and air embolism.

While fetuses do not form gas bubbles more easily than women, even a few bubbles are likely to be very dangerous to the fetus because of fetal circulation. In adults, bubbles tend to be filtered by the pulmonary circulation through the lungs, but in fetuses, there is a bypass of the lung circulation through the foramen ovale and ductus arteriosus. This means that bubbles will not be filtered but may instead go directly to the brain or coronary vessels, possibly causing stroke or death.

There is also evidence that diving may produce birth defects, including limb reductions, cardiac malformations, and other problems, although this area has not been carefully researched.

 

[renalea]

I had no idea I was pregnant when I went on a dive trip to Cozumel. I was 6-7 weeks pregnant at the time. I had a normal pregnancy and delivery, but my daughter was born with a Ventricual Septal Defect. Now, children are born with VSD every day. Was hers a result of diving early in the pregnancy or would it have happened anyway? Even the cardiologists knowledgable in dive medicine couldn't give a difinitive answer. Luckily, she is a very healthy teenager now with no reprecussions, although she has no desire to dive!