We are trying to get pregnant, but we would like to go on a skiing holiday in Feb/Mar'05 in Europe.If we fall pregnant between now and our planned trip, am I able to go skiing? ↓
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Name: E | Date: Dec 12th, 2004 6:13 PM
If you got pregnant now, you should not downhill ski. It is best to avoid all activities which could cause you to fall or slam into things. I realize it is snow that you would fall on but at a high speed, it may be enough to cause problems. I am sure there will be differing opinions on this but I would want to be safe, rather than sorry. It only takes one accident to end a pregnancy. Good luck to you:) ↑
Name: AL | Date: Jan 6th, 2005 4:20 AM
A friend of mine skiied when she was 12 weeks pregnant. She felt happy doing this as she was told that the baby is still behind the pubic bone at this point, so is protected. I'm not sure I would take the risk though. ↑
Name: Michelle | Date: Jan 8th, 2005 8:04 PM
I'm 10 weeks and just asked my OB this same question. He said no way, don't do it unless you can guarantee that you won't fall or someone else won't run into you and knock you over. :-( He also mentioned that you want to keep your heart rate under 140bpm which hard to do while exercising and then even harder in altitude. ↑
Name: V | Date: Jan 14th, 2005 8:24 AM
From what I've been reading, if you are an experienced skiier, you aren't having balance or dizziness problems and really take it easy, you can do it , I just found out I'm pregnant one day before we are heading out to Big Bear. We've been planning this trip for six months. I've been considering everything too! My feeling is that I will probably stick to the greens and easy blue runs. I've always been a very cautious skiier anyhow. The main concern is icy conditions and other skiiers and snowboarders being careless and slamming into you. That you can't control. Just some food for thought. ↑
Name: Naomi | Date: Jan 18th, 2005 10:43 AM
I skiied in my second trimester during a very straightforward pregncy. I was very careful not to fall and I'm a competent skier. My midwife gave me her blessing! I have a beautiful 18 month old boy. I was quite nervous though to begin with... ↑
Name: Jody | Date: Feb 3rd, 2005 11:30 AM
I skiied at 16 weeks with no problems. My Dr. said it was fine as long as I was careful and watched my heartrate. It felt wonderful to get out and make some turns! ↑
Name: Jen | Date: Feb 17th, 2005 11:14 PM
My Dr. gave me his blessing...I'm skiing at 17 weeks and plan to ski through the rest of the season (unless I start to really feel like I'm off balance). ↑
Name: AL | Date: Feb 22nd, 2005 2:20 PM
I just went skiing at 12.5 weeks. I was very cautious and only was out there for a few hours. If I thought I was in over my head I sat down and slid down on my butt. If you are at all concerned I would not do it. It weighs very heavy on your mind. I just got back and although I did not have any significant falls I will probably worry until my next doctors visit. ↑
Name: jessie | Date: Feb 23rd, 2005 7:52 PM
not to scare you...but my aunt was pregnant with twins. she was in a horrible ski accident, lost the twins & could NOT have children again...be careful. maybe just snowshoe & drink hot chocolate in the lodge. ↑
Name: MR | Date: Feb 25th, 2005 12:45 PM
I went skiing at 12 weeks and I plan to ski at 18 weeks. My doctor is against it but if you are an expert skiier you should be fine. Stick to the easier trails and watch the people around you. ↑
Name: Kelly | Date: Mar 14th, 2005 3:38 PM
My doctor gave me her blessing as well. "If that is your sport, then do it! Until you feel uncomfortable. Be careful as you get bigger because your balance may be off" I actually did a mountain bike race at 16 weeks! People on the trail couldn't get over that I was pregnant and doing the race and how cool that was. I am also an avid snowboarder but decided to not snowboard while pregnant. I have gotten hurt due to other peoples negligence while snowboarding and decided to not take a chance. There are alot of idiots out there and I have had several snow injuries because of it. If you do fall, my doctor says don't try and protect your belly, you will get more hurt. People, she said, "would be better off if they bounced off their belly. The baby is well protected." I am just afraid with skiing/snowboarding of someone slamming into me. ↑
Name: Nikki Salter | Date: Jul 11th, 2005 6:13 AM
I was 8 weeks pregnant when I went skiing last New Year and I had a nasty fall! I am now 32 weeks pregnant and everything is fine but if i was any more pregnant than 12 weeks I wouldn't have gone as its a risk thats not worth taking! I am an experienced skiier but my fall was due to other peoples ignorance on the slopes so no matter how good you are, there are still other people who will cause an accident and I wouldn't hink this is worth the life of a child! ↑
Name: Bettie | Date: Jul 29th, 2005 11:45 AM
My friend-a true ripper who's been skiing since she was 5--skied up to the Friday before her scheduled c-section on Monday, then made it back for closing day 3 weeks later. I just found out I'm pg and my first thought was: should I get a ski pass? Friend was due April 8, I'm due Mar 28, and I'll ski (I'm an expert) and rip and hope for a season just like last year's 600+' ↑
Name: jill | Date: Dec 10th, 2005 7:38 PM
THIS is the perfect forum. I like hearing from REAL people who are pregnant and what they've done and been fine with. I would love to ski in the first trimester and thought the concern was altitude moreso than falling. I'm not too concerned about skiing now and will head up early in the season before it gets really crowded on the slopes with out of control skiers. I do acknowledge it is a small risk...but I too have a ski trip planned for early January and am way early into pregnancy (few weeks). ↑
Name: Lolly | Date: Dec 11th, 2005 1:33 PM
My family runs one of Americas oldest ski hills since my Grandfather started it himself and I've been skiing since I was two. I concider myself a very good skier, I almost NEVER fall. But the thing about skiing is you can't control your blind spots and people can have a tedancy to plow into you without any warning if they don't have good control or just aren't paying attention. That has happened to me more than once in my life, and it would definately threaten your pregnancy. I'm pregnant this year during the ski season and every day I go to work wishing I could go. I am not a doctor but have been told skiing is a no no, and as someone who is well -knowledged on the sport I would NEVER recommend it to a pregnant woman now matter how high level of an expert. There are just too many things not in your control, and all it would take is one fall! I would not book your vacation if you are actively trying to have a baby because if you do fall pregnant during, you would be taking a huge risk during some of the most fragile times of pregnancy. ↑
Name: Val Desire | Date: Dec 12th, 2005 1:29 AM
Practice for now but Europe , hot chocolate , a little wine , fire place , hot tub , sounds like the place to do the trying . ↑
Name: sr | Date: Jan 1st, 2006 10:10 AM
i went skiing yesterday and i feel a few times due to some icey spots.and some of them were hard falls. do you think that i am in a major risk of losing my baby. im 3 and a half months pregnant. and how do i know if i have endangered it? ↑
Name: feferq | Date: Jan 11th, 2006 4:10 PM
What about snowshoeing? We want to go at the end of Jan (8wks at that point) but I hear stuff about not getting your heart rate up. I have asthma and a hard time breathing with extreme cardio and wonder if this might be too much? Why do you need to watch your heart rate??? ↑
Name: Jane203 | Date: Jan 12th, 2006 9:43 PM
To sr - A sure way to know if your baby is OK is to have an ultrasound. If you can't afford it or your insurance won't cover it (you might be able to convince them it's medically necessary because you fell, you don't have to tell them how...) please make an appt with your OB to discuss the issue. You probably won't be able to relax until you know. Best of luck to you. ↑
Name: Jane203 | Date: Jan 12th, 2006 9:48 PM
I am an avid snowboarder and was very much looking forward to a hard-charging season. I found out i was pregnant in the beginning of December and because i had a miscarriage in 2005 my doctor told me no aggresive excercise in the first trimester. But i just passed the first trimester mark so guess what i did today? Snowboarding! I did fall a couple times, easy falls landing on my butt and popping back up again. But the snow was really hard, and there was a lot of mild jarring just riding, so it made me wonder if this is really OK. I don't know much about pregnancy or how delicate it all is. I guess i need to talk to my doctor... ↑
Name: sr | Date: Jan 13th, 2006 1:11 PM
Thanks for responding. I went to the doctor yesterday as my first check bc i didnt know i was pregnant for 3 months. But i went to the doctors and i heard my baby and its healthy..the doctors said that since i was still in my first trimester when i went skiing the baby had more pretection then it does now. We went on a skiing trip last weekend and i decided to stay and go shopping which was just as much fun..Im so excited to know that my baby is healthy.So if you think that you shouldnt go skiing if you know you are going to fall hard then i suggest you dont. But if you really want to talk to your doctor it will make you feel much better if you have opionions from someone who really knows. Good luck with everything. ↑
Name: Jane203 | Date: Jan 14th, 2006 11:11 PM
sr, that is awesome news about your good checkup! I talked to my doctor yesterday, too, and she me the cons as listed in this thread, but said that i really needed to use my judgement about how confident i feel about being able to stay in control and decide for myself if it's worth the risk. For me it is, but i'm a risk-taker i guess - i ride motorcycles, too. :) ↑
Name: sr | Date: Jan 15th, 2006 9:32 PM
Thats good. Yea its totally up to you and your judgement. Shes right. Hope that everything is good, and hope that you have a fun ski trip. HAVE FUN! ↑
Name: climbergirl | Date: Jan 20th, 2006 8:58 AM
My doctor says to continue doing anything you are used to. I have been skiing and everything. I am a rock/ice climbing and now at 37 weeks I am still climbing. I was ice climbing 3 weeks ago and everything is fine. just be careful. don't let all the pansy's scare you into sitting on the couch... think of our fore-mothers 100's of years ago lugging wood and working in the fields and doing hard mannual labour up until the day of birth. a little skiing sure won't hurt you! ↑
Name: Wombatgirl | Date: Jan 20th, 2006 6:45 PM
From what I've read, it seems like it's safe to ski or snowboard on well-groomed greens (and avoid falling on your stomach at all costs) until the 12th week or so. After that, your balance might be off and your joints might be too loose (a scary thought - I was picturing my limbs falling off on the mtn). My doctor said I shouldn't, but I'm going snowboarding at 9 weeks. If I feel dizzy, or fall, of course I'll stop. ↑
Name: Lori | Date: Jan 23rd, 2006 2:46 PM
Just came back from a downhill ski weekend. I'm 23 weeks along. It felt great, no balance problems. I'm still hiking and cross country skiing regularly. Use your best judgement. If you think your chances of falling or injuring yourself are high, don't do it. If you think they are low, do it. My doctor said the fall would have to seriously injure me to injure my baby. However, keep in mind you not only have to worry about your own skiing ability, you have to watch out for other out of control skiers heading in your direction. Just start slow and feel it out. If it doesn't feel good, listen to your body and stop. ↑
Name: jck | Date: Mar 7th, 2006 11:52 AM
So I am only 3 weeks pregnant, I have no worries right? It is ok for me to ski? ↑
Name: Kim L | Date: Mar 15th, 2006 11:35 AM
I think the bottom line is, you are going to hear something different from every doctor. Do what feels okay to you. If you are worried about falling down or people running into you, skip it. For me, I am sticking to the green hills and going at an easy pace on my ski trip this weekend (I am 11 weeks pregnant). The way I see it, I am not in any more danger as I am every day walking down the stairs or driving in my car...just do what feels okay to you! ↑
Name: louise carron harris | Date: Mar 25th, 2006 12:11 PM
i have just come back from a brill week skiing at 21 weeks. I took it easy and avoided any busy runs... i was on top of the world and felt great. ↑
Name: Kim L | Date: Mar 27th, 2006 10:56 AM
Hey all - I posted on the 15th and have returned from my ski trip as well. I stuck to the greens and on the last day did a couple of easy blues. I was nervous the whole time, but all went well. I was cautious and tried to avoid really crowded trails. It was a lot of fun and all is well with baby (just had 12 week appointment). Even though I was just fine, I think I would not do it over again because I am not an experienced skiier and after two recent miscarriages, just worried the whole time. Sort of takes the fun out of it! Just thought I'd give a report. Good luck to you! ↑
