Engaging in Dangerous Physical Activity While Pregnant ...
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Engaging in Dangerous Physical Activity While Pregnant: Irresponsible or Awesome?

39 weeks and still climbing!
We all know it’s important to continue to exercise while pregnant. Of course pregnant women swim, run and enjoy moderate activities like yoga and dance from conception through the birth of their child. But would you engage in more dangerous physical activity, like rock climbing or skydiving? Apparently many women do, without any fear of harming the child inside them.
Jezebel just posted what they dub an “awesome” video of a woman, 8 months pregnant, climbing the face of a rock. I’m not talking about hiking up a mountain on a path, mind you. I’m talking about climbing a mountain suspended by a rope. Quoth Jezebel, “Not content to mellow out with prenatal yoga and other gentler forms of exercise, Amy Roseboro, a 36-year-old physical therapist and total badass, spends her leisure time scaling extreme rock face at Joshua Tree National Park.”
I was a bit taken aback at the idea of a woman in her final trimester taking such a physical risk (this from a lady who questioned Beyonce’s intense high-heeled dancing in her first/second trimester), so I decided to do some research. (And by research, I mean I typed “rock climbing pregnant woman” into YouTube.) Turns out, Amy Roseboro is not the only largely pregnant woman who likes to scale shale. Here’s a video of Carrie Cooper – at 39 weeks pregnant – climbing up the side of an enormous rock. Cooper says, “I believe that life is about living gracefully through the transitions. I have climbed the world over for the last 10 years and developed a keen sense of my body and its strengths. As a healthy expectant mother I continued to listen to the needs of my body.” Take a look:
And get this – according to Lance Armstrong’s LiveStrong website, “many women have jumped out of a plane when pregnant with both the women and their offspring surviving the adventure.” I can’t imagine why anyone would jump out of a plane while pregnant, especially because though “high altitude or stress are not a risk factor,” the “normal risks of skydiving can be quite dangerous, including jolts when your parachute opens and hard landings. Your joints soften during pregnancy, so the jolts and landings might put you at an even higher risk of injury.”
People.com posted a photo yesterday of Elsa Pataky, wife of Thor star Chris Hemsworth, going down a steep waterslide while pregnant. Readers were torn about whether or not this type of behavior is appropriate. Somehow sliding seems less dangerous to me than mountain climbing, but I understand people’s concern.
I also realize one could argue that driving a car while pregnant could be considered a dangerous sport, since driving comes with inherent risks. Additionally, there are other non-athletic activities pregnant women can engage in that are considered risky behavior like smoking (really, don’t do it) and drinking (I did it and everything turned out fine), so it’s clear there’s more than one way to potentially harm a pregnancy.
I relate to the idea of pregnant women being strong, because when I was carrying my daughter, I felt more vital than at any other time in my life. And of course the type of women who want to go rock climbing and jump out of planes with a baby on board are skilled at these things; common sense dictates that trying anything dangerous for the first time while PG is a bad idea. Maybe the reason I find it so jarring to watch pregnant women climb rocks is because for so long pregnant women were encouraged to be gentle with themselves, to consider themselves in a fragile state, and to some extent that notion is pervasive even today.
What do you think? Is engaging in intense physical activity while pregnant irresponsible or awesome?
I’m Pregnant, Not Fragile: Why I don’t want special treatment
Rebel with a Bump: 10 “unsafe” things I did while pregnant
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18 Comments
goddess commented on Jan 20 12 at 2:24 pmWell I don’t know. If they are going to chastise women for smoking or drinking any alcohol, this seems fair enough to target as well.
Either her body is her body and she gets to do with it what she chooses, or the woman’s body becomes partly public domain while its gestating “bayyybeeees”.
Maggie commented on Jan 20 12 at 3:16 pmMaybe this kind of policing of other women’s decisions comes from our mothers’ insistence that whatever it was we were doing was ‘unladylike,’ and their vocal wondering ‘what would the neighbors say’.
In my own pregnancy years (back in the dark ages, you know, the late 60s) our doctors encouraged us to continue doing any physical exercise we were already doing, but not to take this moment to learn new things. From yoga to mountainclimbing, there are adaptations necessary for the pregnant body. But really: let’s stop taking a vote on whether this mother or that soon-to-be mother is ‘doing something wrong’ or not.
My next-door neighbor at the time was horrified when at 5 months pregnant I was still hoisting my four-year-old onto my shoulders. She was convinced that lifting such a heavy weight would ‘destroy’ my growing child. There was no harm to either of us. I was healthy and in good mildly athletic shape. But also, I had been lifting that same child over my shoulders every day since before the pregnancy began. I was in good practice, I knew how to do it, and I had made the gradual adaptations needed.
The right to personal bodily integrity and personal physical autonomy is an important one. Just because one doctor is a paternalistic old fart who thinks all women should stay home in bed doesn’t mean we should all aspire to live like precious, fragile flowers. Any more than one woman’s excessive drunkenness means we should all drink, or all be teetotalers.
LogicalMama commented on Jan 20 12 at 9:23 pmMore power to them, I say! If they are capable and choose to, it’s their choice! Personally, even though I felt strong as a pregnant woman, I also felt uncoordinated and like my body wasn’t really mine. I actually do rock climb and being off balance in the later stages of pregnancy seems like it would make climbing difficult. Also, I couldn’t even clap my hands together from repetitive stress and joint softening so thinking about holding my body, with an extra few dozen pounds isn’t appealing! I guess it would depend upon the difficulty of the climb. I would never even consider parachuting!!!!
LogicalMama commented on Jan 20 12 at 9:41 pmOk, now after watching it I’ll add two things… she didn’t lead climb so she had a belayer on the ground. If she lost footing or fell, she wouldn’t go very far — I’m assuming her climbing partner is the parent partner as well and is very diligent with his task. I think that is wiser than lead climbing where you can fall trying to lock in and fall 10 ft to the last beaner. But I am really surprised she didn’t put a helmet on for outdoor climbing….
SCCragmama commented on Jan 21 12 at 6:10 pmI discovered climbing when my first child was 2. I was completely in love with climbing and had a VERY hard time starting baby #2 knowing that it would be even harder with 2 children. I did a lot of research and decided that with a full body harness I could keep climbing and finally decided to go for baby #2. My ligaments started loosening very early. At about 29 weeks I was noticing more significant sciatic pain after climbing, and by the end I had gained over 50 pounds. Climbing was the one time that I almost felt normal and I would not have given it up for the sciatic pain. I would have sciatic pain regardless and with climbing I got my exercise, my outlet, my time with friends. I participated in a comp at 20 weeks preggo and came in 3rd. I climbed outdoors. The hiking was worse than the climbing! On routes that pregnant women would choose to do, top roping is very low impact with little chance of a significant or dangerous fall – that is the part that non-climbers don’t understand. I went swimming this night before my baby was born and I think that’s what got labor started – ha! The last time I climbed before baby was born was 38 weeks and he was born at 39 weeks.
Coco commented on Jan 22 12 at 7:24 amDamn sickos!
Megan R. commented on Jan 22 12 at 8:32 amI think it is amazing that a woman was able to so thoroughly enjoy her pregnancy and to continue practicing a sport she loves while pregnant. While I can’t say that I would embrace the idea of skydiving while pregnant, I feel each woman has a right to do what she feels is safe and best (within most reasonable limits of normal) for herself and her unborn child. I struggled to get pregnant in the first place, and my journey to motherhood last six long years. I lost three pregnancies while “following all the rules” and doing “nothing” that could potentially harm my babies. It happens. I was cautious with my final pregnancy, too, but I was also finally able to relax a bit and enjoy walking and lifting light weights for awhile. It made me happy and feel more alive and vibrant. I also felt like I was giving my baby a gift through my own happiness during that time. Unfortunately it was a difficult pregnancy, and I ended up hospitalized for a month before finally delivering a healthy little girl 4 weeks early. Given the opportunity to fully enjoy a pregnancy while still being me / being active / living my life? Wow…what a gift, and I say GO FOR IT!
Christie F. commented on Jan 22 12 at 9:25 amIf it’s DANGEROUS to her unborn child because it is dangerous to the mom-to-be, it’s the same thing as doing something dangerous with a child, period. How is this even debatable?
KBC commented on Jan 22 12 at 10:12 amBeautiful, inspiring mama!
My burning question… can anyone tell me if this is the Pit outside of Flagstaff? :-)
Jamethiel commented on Jan 22 12 at 10:33 amI went to a school that had an outdoor program track, and I took a rock climbing class. Of all the people I’ve known who rock climb, kayak, ice climb, or any of those “extreme” sports, they all know their bodies extremely well and know what they can handle. I myself rode a 18hand high draft horse until I was 39 weeks pregnant, and it was the most relaxing thing for me, much more than yoga would have been! To each their own.
janet macintyre commented on Jan 22 12 at 10:55 amoh for goodness sake what rubbish is this jumping out of planes whilst pregnant just pure selfish if u ask me and says more about the mum than anything else im all for women not being treated as being ill whilst pregnant anworking up to the last day possible if they want but at the end of the day u have a baby inside and u should take time to think things through yes u could get run over but u just dont walk out on to the road u look before i think showing your child a strong woman who can give birth sort the world out show right from wrong show respect when required and above all stand up for yourself is the best example to show a child but im afraid this kind of thing does nothing to help women at all
steph commented on Jan 22 12 at 11:06 amAny person lacking common sense knows you wouldn’t strap a baby to your back and go rock climbing, so why is it even a question if it’s ok to have your unborn child in tow? This is insane.
Gary commented on Jan 22 12 at 11:07 pmOne vote for irresponsible.
Linda, T.O.O. commented on Jan 23 12 at 3:09 amI don’t really have a problem with it. She wasn’t the lead climber and she was wearing a safety harness. I wouldn’t personally have wanted to do that while pregnant, because my center of balance was way off.
Crystal commented on Jan 24 12 at 12:53 pmwow… get a grip ladies… applaud her for being fit and staying happy while pregnant… at least she didnt gain excessive weight from laying around eating bon bons cuz her mom thinks she needs to rest like a delicate fragile sickly person… back in the day women would have a kid while plowing fields, clean themselves up and keep going… ur body does a heck of a lot to protect your baby… live a little…
MamaLuvins commented on Jan 24 12 at 12:56 pmI think it’s extremely selfish of these women to put their children at risk. Who cares if it empowers them?? Becoming a mom means putting that baby above your own desires!! There is a huge divide between empowerment and self-absorption. The poster above, Steph, has it right – you wouldn’t strap a baby on your back to climb or jump out of a plane, so don’t do it while you’re pregnant. If you can’t delay your personal gratification for a few months, then you shouldn’t be becoming a mother, period.
Jen de Jong commented on Jan 24 12 at 12:59 pmWow, some of us are very judgy! While I wouldnt do it myself, I will not judge someone else for doing so. If I had every moment of my parenting brought before a group of parents Im sure some people would not agree with everything……have we forgotten that everyone is different. She obviously feels safe or would not be doing it. Bottom Line, lets not get to wrapped up in everyone else. when did we become the ultimate guide to the ins and outs of parenting and pregnancy……none of us know everything.
Victoria Smith commented on Jan 25 12 at 9:55 pmWhat the writer fails to understand is that Aimee is climbing a rock top roping, not lead climbing. Please search these terms and note the difference. She is attached to the rope, IF she slips (not fall), it is a half an inch or so. Be assured that Aimee would never climb anything that would put her child(ren) at risk. I have belayed her one time in her pregnancy, recently. She is safe, quite intelligent, very aware of her ability and her body. She picks rock formations that are safe, not slabby. Check her out for AFTER she has the baby, then you decide what an intelligent bad ass she truly is. :) I am proud to know her and those of us who have had the pleasure of meeting her or truly know her are in good company with a great mother.
Keep climbing ladies!
Victoria
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