Netball whilst pregnant - yes or no?

[heidihii]

Hi all. I am currently 8 weeks pregnant. Before I got pregnant I was playing netball twice a week (one training session and one match). I haven't played since I found out I was pregnant, but mainly because there haven't been any matches due to Christmas etc. I asked my GP if it was ok to continue playing and he said yes (although he seemed very laid back about everything and informed me that his wife went skiing when she was pregnant). Netball starts again next week and I'm in 2 minds whether to play or not...has anyone had any experience playing whilst pregnant and how long did they carry on for?
Thanks x

Maybe tell the netball coach you are expecting if you haven't done so already so they can put provisions in place for you. They might need to do a risk assessment or something? They do say it's good to keep exercising when pregnant but as far as Netball goes I'm unsure.

I'm sure you'll be fine, but if it were me I'd avoid it. I'm abysmal at Netball and have always managed to break a finger / arm / elbow someone in the eye though, so perhaps it's me and not the game! Seems quite rough to me though.

First pregnancy I didn’t play. Second time I played until 17 weeks! I was told any exercise you did before and carried on with was generally OK. I only play GS though and indoors in a social league at that time, I just told all the GKs so they were aware, and also my team were happy that if I felt the other team were too aggressive or anything I could just walk off the pitch! It wasn’t Saturday league standards though... another woman in our league has just stopped at 24 weeks!

I think it probably depends on position you play and how aggressive/contact the games are. If unsure, or worried, I wouldn’t play for peace of mind. Congratulations btw!

I played until I was around 5 months and then it became noticeable I was pregnant and wasn't fair on other players to expect them to accommodate a pregnancy on court. I also went skiing at 3 months. I get a bit enraged with the world if I can't do sport though.

Thanks everyone. I play centre so a fair bit of running around. It's a tricky one as I don't really want to tell people until I've had my 12 week scan. Im leaning towards not playing but then I need to come up with a good excuse for not playing for the next 4 weeks! Will miss it 🙁

If your an affiliated member with England Netball then your affiliation covers you until your 12 weeks- after that if there was to be an accident on court then your affiliation insurance would be void and very likely void the teams your playing against. I played my last match when I was about 10 weeks -GS but at a fairly decent standard and I'm not the tallest so have to use my physicality and strength a lot to hold space , it can get fairly rough!

I think depending on the standard your playing at and your own fitness then it's your call!

Oh and I'm a a coach and player - I would never let any of my own players play after 12 weeks

And 10 weeks post c section so very much missing the action this season!

Fine to carry on if you are used to it and already play. Skiing is a bit different, a much higher risk of falling. You cannot avoid all risk. The closest I came to injury when pregnant was on a rush hour escalator on the tube.

Personally I'd be more worried about someone bumping into me a bit too hard accidentally ofc But our league was quite rough... So id opt out but it's totally how you feel... Baby's well tucked in until 12 weeks ... X

No absolutely not! It's a big no in netball. It's in all the rules and guidelines that pregnant women cannot play and your coach will not let you play.