Riding a bicycle when pregnant

[BumpOnWheels]

I'm 15 weeks at the moment and haven't been getting much exercise lately. I miss cycling.

Not unreasonable as such but do you think it's ok or dangerous? Would you?

If you’re not going too fast and you can cycle in a safe environment (not in a crowded city center with loads of traffic and high risk of accidents) then why not? I didn’t cycle during my pregnancy but fell down because during a snowy day the floor at work had gotten wet and I slipped. What I mean to say is that accidents happen even if you’re just walking and very carefully as I was at that time. There are no guarantees unfortunately.

I stopped immediately but then I had a nasty urban commute and had too many experiences with deliberately aggressive drivers targeting me, including knocking me off once. They'd not have seen my bump until it was too late (if at all).

I live in a town where everyone cycles and I usually use my bike 3-4 times a week. With dd1 I cycled (very slowly) until the day before I gave birth. She was born in the summer. With dc2, I stopped cycling at around 5 months. He was a winter baby. The weather was much worse (ice, rain wind) and it felt much more dangerous.

(I also heard of one mum who had a home birth and then get on her bike 2 hours later to collect older DCs from school. )

I stopped cycling as my OB/GYN advised against it. She said I could be the best cyclist in the world but if I got knocked off & miscarried I’d be devastated.

Wow. This is wrong on so many levels.

Did she also advise you to stop driving or walking downstairs?

I wouldn't, but really up to you what risk you're comfortable with.

I'm that pregnant someone was told to stop cycling as much too risky but but continued running was apparently fully approved of. I definitely fall over more often from running than I have off a bike in recent years.

fwiw, I had health professional comments of full approval for things like cycling 17 miles (each way) to my 34 week scan appointment.

If you have decent balance (I don't!) and the routes are generally safe then go for it, for as long as you're physically comfortable. It's really important to keep fit as it helps make for a healthy pregnancy, an easier birth and recovery.

I don't cycle (see above) but I ran and did circuit training until 6.5 months until it gave me pains in my calves. After that I did pilates and lots of walking. I was nearly 40 when I had my last baby but a really quick straightforward birth and smooth recovery. I didn't gain much weight either and my blood pressure stayed nice and low. I walked into town and back 3 days after the birth and went on a 9 mile walk a few days after that.

It's a myth that pregnant women should put their feet up and not do any exercise (unless of course you have a weak cervix). I had a friend who even stopped walking her dog as soon as she had a positive test. She really struggled with her weight, gestational diabetes and high blood pressure. I never said anything but couldn't help thinking that a few dog walks would have done her the power of good (the dog too!)

As for the pp whose midwife said she could fall off and miscarry, that's a surprisingly ignorant statement. The foetus is very well protected. Very very few miscarriages result from falls. Most are due to a foetal abnormality or a functional problem with the pregnancy itself.

Thank you for the replies, it's nice to see that the majority would (or have)

To be honest my fitness has slipped alot over the past year, I'm not in fantastic shape and probably 0.5 - 1st overweight. I'm definitely not trying to lose anything whilst pregnant but would definitely like to be alot healthier.

No actual bump as of yet, I just look like I've eaten alot

I do live in London but not central, there is a nice cycling route nearby.

I once read that you shouldn't cycle during pregnancy and laughed - I couldn't think of anyone I knew who didn't. I guess what they were saying was that it wasn't the time to take up sports cycling, not that you should stop cycling to work if that was what you normally did.

The thing to be aware of is that your balance can change. I do know one person who stopped cycling for the last two or three weeks because of that, although in her case it was compounded by having a toddler on the back of the bike.

In my case, prem birth meant a stay in hospital after the birth. I went home from the hospital for a couple of hours one day, and having got a taxi home, cycled back to the hospital (yes, easy birth). What struck me was how much faster I cycled than to the antenatal appointments - DD may not have weighed very much, but she'd still been slowing me down!

@LaBellina

If you’re not going too fast and you can cycle in a safe environment (not in a crowded city center with loads of traffic and high risk of accidents) then why not? I didn’t cycle during my pregnancy but fell down because during a snowy day the floor at work had gotten wet and I slipped. What I mean to say is that accidents happen even if you’re just walking and very carefully as I was at that time. There are no guarantees unfortunately.

For what it's worth, I've invariably felt safer cycling in central London than in quieter locations.

Reason being that the drivers in central London are travelling slowly due to congestion, and very much expect to see cyclists, and so have their eyes peeled. Drivers in suburbia? Not so much, in my experience. I hate cycling down country lanes because drivers go around blind bends at 50mph with no thought that there might be a cyclist around the bend.

Traffic free routes, where they get you from A to B in a fairly direct fashion, are normally preferable, but they don't exist everywhere (frequently due to a vocal minority of drivers whining every time a segregated cycle lane might be put in)

I'm shock that pregnant someone was told to stop cycling as much too risky but but continued running was apparently fully approved of. I definitely fall over more often from running than I have off a bike in recent years

I’m surprised too. But there is a massive difference between taking a small trip when running and getting knocked off your bike by a car or something worse.

I was a regular cyclist and cycled to all my maternity appointments until the last few weeks when my balance was a bit off and my belly was huge. Neither midwives nor any of the many consultants (high risk pregnancy due to chronic health condition) had any issues with it, and in fact says it was better to keep active. This was in London, on roads. But I was already a very experienced cyclist and knew the routes well.

Totally agree @LadyWhistledownsQuill surbuban areas with high speed traffic much more dangerous on a bike. There’s a roundabout near me (towards Essex) that I thought I was going to die on. Nobody would give way to me coming from the right and just rushed past me. Whereas I’ve cycled the much bigger Old St roundabout in central London and place de Concorde in Paris without any concerns. Surbuban drivers also more likely to do a close pass.

My mother cycled until just before I was born. It was the 1950s though when bikes were a popular mode of transport and there were fewer cars.

Personally I wouldn't, but I'm clumsy and accident prone. Been to minor injuries twice because of cycling 🙈 haven't cycled once since getting pregnant.

A friend commutes by bike in central London. She went into labour (full term) on her ride home.

I skied at 7 months pregnant. I’m fairly competent but not excellent. I did it with full doctor backing however, as she said the baby is so well protected in there, falling really isn’t much of a risk. The biggest risk to me was ligament damage simply due to looser ligaments. She was the most pragmatic, calming and wonderful doctor ever.