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icegirl
Dec 11, 2009, 2:24 PM
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Registered: May 10, 2004
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Reading through countless postings (not all of them though) on climbing while pregnant I noticed that most women stick to top roping (which makes sense since it lessens the chance of taking long falls).
I believe firmly that being pregnant is not some sort of disease and that I can scale my effort sensibly by listening to my body thus my question isnīt whether to climb when pregnant but rather WHEN pregnant climbers stopped leading?
Now Iīm pregnant with my second child and last time around I TRīd until the 8th month and only stopped because the harness didnīt fit anymore. But I canīt for the life of me remember when I started only TR-ing.
What did you do?
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erica
Dec 12, 2009, 2:31 PM
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Registered: Dec 1, 2005
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I am currently 24 weeks pregnant and probably stopped leading around 8 or 9 weeks or so. At around 20 weeks I took the plunge into the world of full-body harnesses - I got one from CAMP for pretty cheap on the recommendation of another girl on this site. I look ridiculous but its a lot more comfy on my tummy - as an added bonus, I think it makes it more obvoius that I am pregnant rather than just chunky around the tummy, so I get lots of encouraging comments from random folks! :)
Congrats on your new pregnancy and on being able to climb so late in the game last time around - I'm hoping to make it that long as well!
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kiwiprincess
Dec 14, 2009, 7:57 PM
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Registered: Oct 26, 2007
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I don't have kids but from what I have seen with friends is that they choose to top rope long before they get so big it would be harness fit/ safety considerations but just something they naturally decide.
I think as long as you got a dynamic belay, and body harness the force would be fairly minimal but maybe it isn't comfy?
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clee03m
Dec 15, 2009, 6:04 PM
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Registered: Oct 29, 2004
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Congrats!
I am 24 weeks pregnant, and I did a lot of research about leading when I first became pregnant. From everything I read and talking to 4 different Ob/Gyn, the conclusion I came to was that it is safe to take a lead fall until about 14-16 weeks. The reason for that is around 14-16 weeks the uterus is no longer encased in your pelvis and becomes an abdominal organ and now blunt or penetrating trauma can potentially cause placental abrupture. Some say that anything that leads to pelvic fracture and significant maternal hemorrage will be harmful for the pregnancy even early on, but as one of the OB said, that is like saying women shouldn't fly because if the plane crashes the baby will die.
I stopped leading at 13 weeks. Mind you, one of the Obs I talked to insisted that I can lead for my entire pregnancy, so I feel that this is pretty conservative. Seems that there are women who lead far later into their pregnancy and do just fine. But this was what my personal OB and I felt was reasonable and agreed on. One of the most compelling things I read that lead me to this conservative approach was that in moter vehicle accidents where there was no apparant injury to moms, women still had higher rate of complications with their pregnancy starting in their second trimester.
This is a very personal choice, and you and your doctor will have to decide what is right for you.
I highly recommend a body harness so you don't have to stop climbing.
Also, if you are interested, read "Exercising through your Pregnancy" by Clapp. Not climbing specific, but an awesome read.
Feel free to PM me, if you want.
Chris
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icegirl
Dec 16, 2009, 10:44 AM
Post #5 of 8
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Registered: May 10, 2004
Posts: 25
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Thank you all for your responses.
Last time I used a normal harness the whole time, just borrowed a bigger one but think this time I'll get a full body harness as it seems a much safer option.
Quick question, where did you buy the FB harness? What brands?
I looked online and only found one adult type that costed about $100.
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clee03m
Dec 16, 2009, 7:27 PM
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Registered: Oct 29, 2004
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CAMP has one for about 50 bucks. It's ok. More comfortable than I imagined considering there is no padding. My biggest complaint is that there is only one gear loop. I look totally silly wearing a gear sling following a sport route.
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erica
Dec 17, 2009, 1:09 AM
Post #7 of 8
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Registered: Dec 1, 2005
Posts: 22
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I got the CAMP harness from gearexpress.com . The one gear loop is annoying, but a daisy chain slung around my shoulders works out okay. It is WAY comfier on the belly than my regular harness was...
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