Snowboarding in early pregnancy

[Thoughtfulduck]

I’ve just found out I’m nearly 5 weeks pregnant. A group of friends and I have all agreed to learn to snowboard together, our boot camp is next weekend at an indoor slope.

I was wondering if it’s too dangerous or whether baby is pretty well protected at the moment? I’m a complete beginner so won’t be doing anything crazy except falling on my bum a lot.

If I don’t partake then my friends will wonder why, I don’t know what to do. Has anyone had any advice on this?

I personally wouldn't risk it. Actually due to be heading off for a week snowboarding in the morning which has turned in to a week in a chalet enjoying the views.
Learning often means bumps and bruises and you can't account for other people that could take you out on their way down.
Not worth the risk for me, and DH agrees even though he'll be off on his own now.
Probably easier to bow out of the whole thing, bad back? Stomach bug?

You might be best to ask your midwife. I skied in the first trimester BUT I’m a competent skier and when I checked with my midwife her first question was ‘I’m assuming you can ski already?’ and then said it was fine as baby is well protected in your pelvis at that point. Having snowborded a few time my only anxiety would be that you will be falling a lot initially! Congratulations on the pregnancy!

I wouldn't risk it. I've never fallen over so much or so painfully as when I tried to learn snowboarding - and I'm a good skier. It was a constant succession of falling, getting up and falling again. Wouldn't want to risk that while pregnant,

No I wouldn’t learn to snowboard or ski etc if you have never done it before. If you had done it all your life then that’s a different story. I have a Norwegian friend who skied the whole way through both her pregnancies! Apparently it’s very normal there!!

Thank you for all the replies, I think I knew deep down it wasn’t a sensible idea. Still trying to get my head round the idea that I am actually pregnant and changing plans like this is blowing my mind slightly!

My consultant told me skiing was fine in early pregnancy as the baby is well protected in your pelvis. I’m a fairly advanced skier though, I don’t know that I would have done it if I was learning from scratch. That and you’ll probably find you get very tired much more quickly than usual. If you’re not sure you want to then make an excuse on the day like a stomach bug?!

NHS guidance is essentially to keep doing what your body is used to exercise-wise, but now is not the time to start a new activity/regime. I'd feign a stomach bug and skip it tbh.

Skiing in pregnancy is absolutely fine. It’s the falling over that has the potential to be dangerous. As a beginning, your odds of having a tumble are far greater. It’s really not worth the risk.

Definitely not, and I saw that as someone who was skiing late on in pregnancy.
Learning to snowboard is brutal. You will spend the day falling forwards/backwards/sideways/anyways. You will bruise parts of your body you didn't even know existed.
It is posible to ski gently. It is not possible to learn snowboatding gently.
Sorry!

At least it’s been a clear no! Not got any thinking to do, nice and straightforward

Hmmmn. Probably not - although inside you might be ok. It's on the mountain when there are hundreds of other boarders and skiers everywhere you'd need to really worry.

I carried on horse riding for a fair bit in the first trimester, and my midwife was ok with it. In the end I stopped because although I trust myself and my horse, I don't trust the drivers. It's just not worth the risk.

Pull a sickie?

Ps in terms of danger to baby, at this point they'll be nestled in your pelvis and tiny, so very well cushioned. This is why my midwife said ok - but you need to follow your gut instinct. There's no point taking unnecessary risks, and if you were to break something, you'd have one hell of an awful first trimester.