Can I ski if I'm pregnant?

[Bakewell]

I have just found out I am a few weeks pregnant with my second child, which is wonderful news. On the other hand I have just booked our first ski holiday in years (typical!)

I would be 15/16 weeks by then, is it me or am I not allowed to ski that pregnant, or at all in fact if I am expecting?

Any advice would be v welcome

Depends on your ability. If you are really good and unlikely to fall then it would probably be OK but at 15/16 weeks I'd be reluctant to ski. You never know who might ski into you or just how easily accidents can happen.

I'm not a bad skier and, like you, had just landed in Whistler to discover I was pregnant. I was only 3-4 weeks gone but it made me very nervous skiing. As a result I ski-ed like a total *rse and had a nasty accident through lack of confidence. I skied into my pal and he fell on top of my leg and my knee was ruined for the rest of the holiday and still gives me problems. The baby was fine but he could easily have fallen onto my stomach. This was not a big snowball accident, I just kind of fell into him after some moguls so it shows how easily things can go wrong. Ironically the year before to the day I was skiing and hit a patch of ice. Again the fall wasn't dramatic but I couldn't stop myself sliding and collided with a gnarled tree stump sticking about 6 inches out of the snow. It was agony and ended up in hospital for a catscan. Had I been pregnant then I don't think the baby would have survived that hit!

I'd ask your doctor what she/he thinks but at that stage you could have the start of a tiny bump.

Ski-ed when pregnant and have friends who also did. I think you are unlikely to harm your baby in any way, unless you had the most horrific collision. Even then your baby is very well protected. I managed to dislocate my knee and rip my cruciate ligament but ds was fine.
However, if you are going to be nervous about it, then relax, sit back and enjoy reading, sleeping and meeting everyone for lunch, which is what I did when I was 7 months pregnant with dd and just too big & unbalanced to ski.

Thanks Pagan/Beetroot

I'm a good skier as I used to live in switzerland but you're right, you just cant predict how safely those around you are skiing. Plusit keeps occurring to me that I'll be showing by then and if I can feel/see the baby I'll be even more nervous on the slopes.

I'll chat to my midwife and see what she thinks, I just know how disappointed my partner will be - this holiday has been a long time coming. Maybe I could send him away with a mate?

x

Bugsy - just curious, have you skied since? We're hoping to go on a family skiing holiday once the kids are a bit older and my knee still gives way sometimes. Only last week it packed in when I was hoovering and I ended up in a right fankle with the hoover on top of me. It's nearly 3 years since the accident.

Sorry for thread hijacking

is there any way to change your holiday?
we had booked to go to prague for christmas and new year when I found out I was pregnant, and as we will have a one month old baby by then we had to cancel. We lost 10% of the cost, but it was better than losing out completely.

Think you'd have to be careful as your centre of gravity will be altered and your ligaments softening so you run an increased risk of injury if you twist awkwardly or fall. It isn't so much your ability in question as the potential for others to misjudge it and cause you to take evasive action or tumble.

The baby would probably be fine though ,as long as you take it more gently, and don't go too high an altitude where you may feel it more than usual.

I skied until 4 and a half months with ds, and only stopped then because the snow melted! Admittedly I did take it a bit easier than I would otherwise have done - no bumps or slalom racing, and we were lucky enough to be in a place which doesn't really get crowded, where conditions are rarely that difficult (there might be an excess of deep snow, but there's hardly ever ice), and where the average standard of the people on the mountain is pretty high. Oh and my real life alter ego happens to be a qualified ski instructor, so I can be fairly confident that I'm not actually likely to trip myself up very often.

Have a look here Bakewell.

One thing if you need insurance you'll have to shop around - we tried to do it when I was 14 wks preg and I wasn't even going to ski - was just going to teach ds, we got turned down everywhere so gave up and went moor walking instead

I love skiing but wouldn't consider doing it when pg (and I like to think I'm quite good too). Too risky, IMO.

I skiied when i was 6 months pregnant with DS. I took advice from doctors, midwives etc. I Skied only in the mornings so that i was fresh and not tired (therefore less likely to fall). I was lucky also to be in a big group and everyone, bless 'em all, pretty much took it in turns to surround me to protect me from others crashing into me. I found I skied even better pregnant than normal which is apparently because your centre of gravity is lower.

suppose it depends how good you are. have to say I was v tempted when dh buggered off when I was pg with dd (and every year since, but that's another story )

You would be extremely unlucky to damage your baby if you fell whilst skiing. Your uterus has only just started to emerge from the pelvis.

I skiied everything apart from the big bowl at Whistler whilst 17wks. I fell all the time as the conditions were dung.

However, if you ski and you feel tense, you are more likely to fall. So, you should do what you feel most comfortable with. I gave this advice to a friend and she replied, 'I'm actually very comfortable spending my days in the spa and battering my credit card' LOL

Hi Pagan, yes have ski-ed since. Have a fantastic knee brace that I bought in the US which makes me feel more confident. I also try and do lots of muscle strengthening activities before I go, so that I am using my muscles to ski and not relying on bones & ligaments.
My knee is b*ggered though, can't run at all or do high impact aerobics or any of that stuff.

cant see how it helps. Would have thought the bump was a handicap. couldnrt ski before so dont know why being pregnant would help!