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Skiing whilst pregnant - is it safe?

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Slightly delicate one this but does anyone have any knowledge or experience of skiing whilst three months pregnant? Are there increased risks of miscarriage/ harm to foetus? Thank you.[/b]
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
I asked a question similar to this ages ago (on behalf of a friend). I think the main issue is that if the mum-to-be has a fall or is hit by someone else and ends up loosing the baby how would she feel about that? Only the mum can answer that...
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
As above, no worries about skiing itself, but being taken out hard would prey on my mind. Not faced the q myself but my ski buddies that have didn't ski and I suspect id feel the same, if in major Euro resorts. Quiet us\small resorts might be tempting for some laid back cruising, but tbh probably not for me personally as there is always next year, one year off not a big deal. Jess x
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No one will ever declare doing anything whilst pregnant as safe, as the tests just have not been done. If you ask a doctor, if they ski they will understand and tell her to carry on skiing, but if they don't ski they will tell you it is too risky.

Many many women ski until they are 5/6/7 months pregnant - quite a lot unknowingly. My wife was sking into at least her sixth month with son#1 - who is now one of UK's top U16 racers.

What is generally agreed is that taking up skiing when pregnant is probably not a good idea.
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
@Snowsartre, my partner skied during the first three months whilst I flapped around her like a worried hen (cockerel to be more precise) - we had taken medical advice and were informed that the foetus is well down in the pelvis at this point. This perspective is reinforced by this post on Mumsnet:



I've skied in both pregnancies. The main danger in the first trimester is to you - your baby is still well down inside your pelvis, and quite well protected. I was skiing in Jan at 7 weeks, and noticed that my ligaments were loosening up, resulting in me not having such precise control of my skis. (Although this was only a problem on steeper black runs grin.) Also there is a tendency to tiredness in the first trimester. I dealt with this by asking OH to carry my skis everywhere for me (I carried his poles) and having a kip when we got back in, before dinner.

There shouldn't be a problem with altitude - even the highest glacier runs in the Alps are only 11000ft-ish. This sounds high, but to put it in perspective the pressure altitude of the aircraft cabin you will be travelling to the ski resort in is generally about 8000ft. The oxygen problems people think about with pregnancy are more likely to be down to over-exertion than altitude, so just take it easy if you head up high.

The main thing I would say is that how you cope with a ski holiday is determined by how good and confident a skier you are. It is obviously a lot easier to stay safe on the slopes if you are happy in your own ability. Also, as others have said, the biggest risk is generally 'other people.' PavlovtheCat raises a point that it is miserable to be injured and pregnant, but I do think that the example she has used is an extreme case. A more likely scenario is what happened to my friend, who wobbled a bit on her skis and threw herself over at an awkward angle to avoid landing on her tummy. She tweaked her knee in the process, but was fit enough to be skiing again 6 weeks later!



Hope that this is helpful - V2
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Excellent posts from valais2 and others.
My wife skied 3 months in. We're planning relax in Spain. Then too good to miss deal in Verbier was snapped up instead.
Most of week she took it steady on cruisy blues and easier reds. Quiet on pistes, early April, Easter already gone.
She mentioned pregnancy to teenage girl she skied with quite a bit, just in case. I was peeling away with her Dad occasionally, onto more challenging stuff.
Then one day, Mrs Intermediate got bored. Against my specific recommendation and pleading, bordering on a slopeside domestic, she headed up onto steepish mogully piste. Only half way down, she fell a couple of times, her confidence went, and I had to start picking her up and coaxing her down.
She'd just got to the tearful stage when our chalet friend , the Dad I'd skied with a few times, picked his way down the moguls. He then launched into a tirade of abuse against ME for 'making my vulnerable wife ski this dangerous mountain'!
Anyway, she looked sheepish and kept quiet, I took it on the chin and we got down OK. 6 months later she gave birth to a healthy bouncing boy, who was wearing a crash helmet. He's now a better skier than both of us and we are all living happily ever after. In poverty.
Learning points? Take it steady? Resist the moguls and steeps? Avoid those boy racer areas as much as possible? Tell people you're skiing with that you're pregnant? Carry contact details/medical conditions info with you, in easily findable place, just in case? Take deep lung-fulls of fresh mountain air? Eat well? ENJOY?
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@Snowsartre, my wife also skied pregnant - she was about four months pregnant with our first when we went. On your question of risk, I don't think there is a simple answer, as there are so many variables. Is it more risky than sitting on a beach for the same length of time? Almost certainly. Will the trip pass without incident? Anecdotal evidence on here suggests it's likely.

The problem for my wife was that she found the trip stressful, which is not what most of us want from a holiday, and I suspect that is even more true in pregnancy. The fear of falling - and even more specifically, of being knocked over - allied to the loosening of ligaments as noted above meant that she spent the holiday in a state of high alert, not skiing in her usual confident, controlled manner, and exhausted at the end of every day. She swore she wouldn't ski whilst pregnant again; she regarded it a relatively small sacrifice for her peace of mind. The upside was I got several years of boys' weekend trips in whilst she stayed at home. The downside is she never lets me forget it.

Best of luck, whatever the decision.
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After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
I am pregnant and I live in a ski resort @Snowsartre, my midwife, doctor (gp) and hospital specialist have all told me not to ski. I don't have statistics, I have accepted what they've said and not skied this season.

Some women choose to ski during their pregnancy- There are lots of rules to break of you want to -this really has to be your own decision.
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It's hard to imagine that tumbling over a few moguls would harm a healthy foetus. They're not all healthy of course and are likely to be aborted. If the spontaneous abortion of a non viable foetus happened after a ski holiday some people might try to link the two.

I had no opportunity to ski during my pregnancies but I did windsurf throughout the third. Until 8 months. It was not a pretty sight....and I did only use a small sail. wink
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I tell a lie - I skied for 1 day during early season opening when I was about 5 weeks pregnant and before I had visited the medics. Other than that I've avoided it even though I REALLY WANT TO SKI, but then I'd like a long lunch with decent wine but hey ho...there are other things I can do and it's only one season.
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Congratulations Nadenoodle

I have 3 sons and I skied whilst pregnant (first trimester) with no 1 and no 3. My doctor was a keen skier and snowboarder and gave me the all clear! Both trips had been booked before I knew I was pregnant.

Medical advice was to ski well within my capabilities, take everything easy and avoid getting overtired. As it turned out whilst I enjoyed both holidays, pregnancy was not a condition I enjoyed. I suffered with perpetual nausea and extreme fatigue. My blood pressure dropped really low and I lost a fair bit of weight during the first months. The drive to the Alps in itself, just as a passenger, was exhausting

The first trip, to Morzine, (without other little ones) I was free to do what I liked but it turned out that was not too much at all and I struggled to do a whole day, requiring frequent long brakes. With my third pregnancy we were actually staying with relatives and much of the little skiing (La Faucille in the Jura) I did do was with my then 3 year old between my legs on the gentlest of nursery slopes, or my husband and I played/skied with the two children on skies or just in the snow getting them familiar with snowy environments.

It must be a very personal decision weather to ski whilst pregnant or not. I would not have liked to be on busy slopes and took the view that we were having a holiday in beautiful surroundings and doing a bit of skiing.
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pam w wrote:
I had no opportunity to ski during my pregnancies but I did windsurf throughout the third. Until 8 months. It was not a pretty sight....and I did only use a small sail. wink


My good lady skiied at some point during both pregnancies, and her main gripe was the lack of good maternity skiwear. wink
The best advice she got was "If its something you'd normally do if you weren't pregnant, do it"
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@CaravanSkier, same as you - i have ridiculously low blood pressure, I was signed off work and told to rest the other week. I would be content with "pottering" but the risk of other skiers is what makes me put the skis down and pick up the walking boots.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
Mrs T Bar is another who skied during both pregnancies but took it a bit easier.

I fully understand those who don't want to but I don't really get the argument about the great risk being of other skiers.

Most people who are keen skiers will get their kids on skis when young and they are far smaller, more difficult to spot and less predictable in movement than a pregnant woman.
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@T Bar, Its more people skiing into me. It happened last year and to a friend, that coupled with three medical professionals, based in a ski resort, all saying non helped me make the decision.

Each to their own, some women drink, smoke, sky dive (ok maybe not that) through pregnancy - its your choice ultimately. I am lucky, I live in a ski resort so my maternity leave will cover all of next season when I shall also have full time childcare (cheers mum) so i`ll get my fix then.
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
@Nadenoodlee,
Wasn't meaning to criticise your own decision.
There have though been threads in the past that have stated that women should not ski when pregnant because of the risks of being hit and criticising women for making that choice. My point is that in terms of risk it is almost certainly far more dangerous to let a child ski when young than to ski when pregnant.
If you have been hit it alters your own perception and your decision for yourself is entirely sensible.
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We're going through this right now, were due to be in Tignes and Cervinia over the Easter fortnight.

Our doctor gave the "go ahead", saying it's fine up until about 12 weeks, but also said that it was up to us, and would support us with any travel insurance claims we made if we cancelled as it's personal to each mother-to-be.

We've decided to cancel - my wife of the opinion that a) she would be far too tired, b) she would be really scared whilst skiing, so would probably ski badly and increase the chance of falling c) if something did happen, she would blame herself and d) if she fell and broke an arm or leg, then being pregnant combined with an injury like that would be a nightmare (particularly as the decent painkillers wouldn't be an option!)
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I did get very tired in early months. I was working full time, the first two commuting into London on crowded trains, the third time in Barbados, which was easier but I did a lot of travel, catching horribly early flights and getting back late at night. A ski holiday would have been FAR easier. Many pregnant women have full time care of lively toddlers. Which is more tiring than any of the options above.
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In the not too distant past I returned from a trip where our group of 13 included no less than 3 pregnant ladies, including my wife. All 3 of them are themselves doctors so the question of whether to ski or not was obviously given some thought and as it turned out:

Lady 1 (20 weeks) – didn’t ski.
Lady 2 (12 weeks) – made the decision that she would have been happy to ski, but didn’t because she was suffering from quite bad morning sickness.
Lady 3 (9 weeks, my wife) – did ski but often only skied for a few hours a day and sometimes not at all. This was partly because she found she became exhausted very quickly and partly because she simply didn’t enjoy herself nearly as much as would usually be the case, particularly as other said due to the worry of being hit from other skiers, and confidence was low.

So is it safe? No-one can tell you it’s 100% safe because skiing never is, but to me it seems like a personal decision to weigh up risks and rewards, and bear in mind that there may be other factors that mean you change your mind anyway. If you’re already booked I’d suggest not committing to a full weekly lift pass and seeing how you (or your partner) go.
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We went skiing at about 9 weeks. We decided not to tell anyone until the 12 week window was over. We stopped with friends prior to flying and went to a pub for some food. My dearest ordered an orange juice, both friends looked at each other and said "you're pregnant"

The dearest took it fairly steady and had a great time. She was lucky, had an easy pregnancy Shocked felt well throughout, and was doing pilates/ aerobics until the last week. Laughing
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@Snowsartre, it depends on the competence of the mother-to-be and circumstances. My experience of three different cases:

1. In my 3rd week of skiing and we're told that one of the group is pregnant and given a few basic rule changes to usual - leave her more space so as to not wipe-out into her, always stop below her and we'd get a drinks break mid lesson. No problems, good week for everyone.

2. In my 4th week, our ski-school group was led down into the little off-piste gully just above the Folle Douce, Val d'Isere that some of you may know of. The 1st to ski down fell and she didn't get up, 2nd went down and also fell but she did get up. I was the 3rd to go in, and after seeing what had happened to the others I took a much more cautious route. Anyway, 1st woman was still down and 1st Aid kicked in, assessed the situation, sent someone down to tell the instructor, etc. Because of the way she fell, her ski didn't detach and she'd broken her femur. What she hadn't told anyone, including the instructor was that she was pregnant. Anyway it was a helicopter trip for her to Albertville...

3. I'm now in my 8th week and skiing with t'other half who's 16 weeks pregnant and had 17 weeks experience. Our GP said you're more at risk from falling on ice when walking, too much red wine or eating dodgy soft cheese. Again in Val d'Isere and as I'm not now in ski-school we're skiing as a group of 4 with friends and trying to take it easy. One day after a few near misses and in low viz she decides to go down the - allegedly - blue Santons instead of the usual black Epaule du Charvet. She takes a little tumble, looses a bit of bottle but we get down. No harm done, just a bit more nervy and some bottle lost.

In our case, no harm done. We've now got a son who loves his skiing and is looking forward to his 8th week of lessons before he's 8 years old... He's been the little lad at the last 3 ski-tests in Hemel/MK with a load of Snowheads stickers on his helmet Happy

It comes down to how competent you are and how comfortable you are with the risk. If only a few weeks experience then give it a miss. If you've more experience then let the people you're skiing with know you're pregnant and to route-plan appropriately, etc but don't forget it's a risky game and your ski can still fail to detach, or you can be skied into, pregnant or not.


Last edited by You'll need to Register first of course. on Wed 9-03-16 11:45; edited 1 time in total
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if you ski carefully, don't ski outside of your ability zone, and are fit and healthy , I am sure it is like anything else you do, unless you have a massive fall or get run into by a huge brute. I skied when five months pregnant, I of course avoided icy steeps, and just skied relaxing type slopes. I think it's up to you.
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
Id rather eat rare steak than ski. Thats the only thing I really miss. Ski lunches become very dull when you`re pregnant "PUT THAT CHEVRE DOWN" and "I`ll have a mineral water" occur far too regularly for my liking.
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I skied with a Swiss ski instructor when she was pregnant with each of her children. She was/is incredibly fit and and accomplished sport/ice climber. She suffered from morning sickness, and felt massively better when out skiing.

We were skiing off piste in soft snow, so little risk of impact with others, and the only thing she avoided was frozen chatter bumps, such as un-tillered piste machine tracks, on exit runs. I don't know how far she was into term, but she had to wear her looser snowboard trousers.

Later on she was restricted to teaching children, and did so until 6 weeks before birth. Needless to say with an instructor mother and mountain guide father, both children were skiing before they were 3.
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I skied when expecting my 1st born, I was about 9 weeks. I asked the doctor for his thoughts and he said it was my decision as I was fit and healthy, and therefore he wouldn't have any objection to it. He did recommend that as I took it easy.

I went, stuck to blues and reds - did have a fall getting off a chairlift Embarassed , but I didn't have any problems. It has to be up to the individual and how comfortable they will feel a) when actually skiing and b) should something happen.

I would have done it again with 2nd born but we decided to take a break from skiing until both children were old enough to ski themselves rather than use child care.

The 1st born is now 10 and loves skiing.
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I do hope that any woman who had been skiing and had a miscarriage would not "blame themselves", or accept that there were any causal links not confirmed by a relevant medical specialist. I lost two pregnancies, one at 8 weeks and one at 12. These losses were very distressing but would have been even worse had it occurred to me - or anyone else - that they were my fault.
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@Nadenoodlee, when our first was born, and the missus stayed overnight in the hospital, I was instructed that the first thing I needed to buy and bring in next morning was a selection of soft cheeses and a very ripe pate!
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I skiied at 3-4 months, but only very slow on beginner slopes that weren't thoroughfares. I was mostly worried about getting hit by an idiot.

I suffered with pelvic pain and had diificulty walking, skiing actually helped relieve it!
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@rainman, Laughing because of my advanced age nobody had decided that unpasteurised cheeses were bad for pregnant ladies. We weren't instructed to give up alcohol either, though obviously not supposed to go mad. I was told in the maternity ward by a senior nurse that Guineas was good for the milk supply.
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OH skied in 3 of 4 pregnancies- problem with 4th was early March due date (and he's 16 today!) still managed to ski before the end of the season that time. Latest she skied was 5th month (she carried small but even so looking back it was probably a bit ambitious Shocked ) She was supposed to take it easy but ended up having a heavy fall on ice whilst doing synchronised turns which shook us both up- but even then all was ok thank goodness. Apart from that skiing through pregnancy worked for us/her - Not sure I'd recommend trying synchronised turns at 5 months though!
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@rainman, your wife speaks perfect sense - blue cheese, a rare steak and a bottle of champagne to myself shall be my demand - although im reliably informed our local hospital offers a cheese course.
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Quote:

I was told in the maternity ward by a senior nurse that Guineas was good for the milk supply.

A private ward I take it?
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Guinness. Definitely not a private hospital. I don't much care for Guinness but my OH smuggled in a gin and tonic. Laughing
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My wife skied when she was around 3 months pregnant with both our daughters. It wasn't a problem for her, but she's a reasonably experienced skier and fit and healthy. I remember she was a bit nervous about it beforehand but actually skied as good as ever.
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Quote:

Then one day, Mrs Intermediate got bored. Against my specific recommendation and pleading, bordering on a slopeside domestic, she headed up onto steepish mogully piste. Only half way down, she fell a couple of times, her confidence went, and I had to start picking her up and coaxing her down.

She'd just got to the tearful stage when our chalet friend , the Dad I'd skied with a few times, picked his way down the moguls. He then launched into a tirade of abuse against ME for 'making my vulnerable wife ski this dangerous mountain'!

Anyway, she looked sheepish and kept quiet, I took it on the chin and we got down OK. 6 months later she gave birth to a healthy bouncing boy, who was wearing a crash helmet. He's now a better skier than both of us and we are all living happily ever after. In poverty.


Good story (after the actual event)!
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My wife skied when three months pregnant. Six months later had healthy twins!
Neither of the twins dared ski while they were expecting.
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Skiing is never safe.
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Mind you, neither is child bearing. And I am reliably informed it's eye-wateringly expensive.

Pays yer money, takes yer chances, etc.
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I skied when I was about 23 weeks with my first - the bump needed a size 14 pair of borrowed salopettes to accommodate it, on my a size 8-10 body. My GP was a skier and climber too, and said if I felt comfortable doing it, then go ahead.
I stuck to gentle stuff, and the only bad bits were one really busy area where I didn't feel safe from other people, and another when I tripped flat on my face and the bump whilst skating a flat bit, and didn't feel the baby move for the rest of the day. Fortunately the bump is now a very healthy 20 year old lad.
Skiing pregnant probably wasn't the most sensible thing to do, but if you do, stick within your own capabilities and avoid crowds. After all, you could fall over anywhere, couldn't you?
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I wonder why UK medics say yes and the Swiss and French say non.
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