It's early days yet but a friend is pregnant. She has recently started enjoying cycling. Nothing too strenuous but a couple of hours here and there twice a week or so. I was wondering if anybody had any factual or anecdotal advice about cycling while pregnant or where to look for advice. thanks.
There is a famous female cyclist here in the Lakes who was still winning mtb races so late in her pregnancy, that her dispirited fellow competitors wanted her moved to the tandem class! A few years on, and there seems to have been no discernible effect on her kids - they're just as nutty as she is!
Thanks Tim, I knew nowt about it before but having asked on acf and reading your response I realise it's not going to be a problem. I didn't think it would be a problem, but advice from your betters and wisers is the way to go.
take this comment with a pinch of salt .... ....as a bloke with experience of big bellies I can say that there is a relationship between the size of said belly the ability to reach dropped handlebars in comfort!
Don't meant to spoil the party, but before you go telling her that she will be fine, which I am sure that she will be, just bear in mind how common miscarriage is and how you would feel if she did lose her baby. It's all part of the whole pregnancy thing, but there would always be the thought in the back of her mind that maybe if she hadn't have continued cycling... Just something to bear in mind.
The general advice is that exercise is good in pregnancy, but that the mother should pay extra attention to how she is feeling. It's not recommended that mothers take up new activities in pregnancy. More specifically on cycling, there is a slight risk of losing one's balance through hormone changes, muscles and tendons relaxing in preparation for the birth, and changes in weight and centre of gravity. Mrs. TI went through a stage were she would lose her balance unexpectedly, and only know that she was falling over because she could see the wall moving past her eyes. Her internal gyroscope would just stop working and she was unaware of it. All pregnancies are individual and there are few hard-and-fast rules. Your friend will have to get used to listening to her body very attentively. There are many pregnancy-specific yoga and exercise classes out there that she may be better off joining.
Apparently cyling and swimming are particularly good in pregnancy (as opposed to running, dance, aerobics or other high impact sports like tennis) Also cylgin will be better than stretching sports such as intense yoga because hormonal changes make muscles and liganments more stretchy and prone to injury from over stretching. Cycling is one of the less injury causing sports as the range of motion is so restricted. Swimming, especially in late preegnancy is also good because it is non weight bearing, so places joints under no stress whilst you are at your heaviest, and is more comfortable than other forms of excercise as you are supported by the water.
No, running is fine, several members of my running club have continued whilst pregnant. Non-sporting midwives/doctors/etc used to advise against it, but the more modern approach is that any exercise (alright, maybe not kickboxing) is good even into late pregnancy so long as you feel OK to do it, that your body will tell you when you should stop. I guess an additional issue with cycling though is the possibility of road accidents. Up to your friend whether she feels happy cycling for two.
My wife's midwife just stressed the 'see how you feel' aspect of it all. I would have thought that if she feels fine and enjoys cycling then it will do her a lot of good. My wife's first pregnancy went like a dream, we went winter hill walking in Scotland at 10 weeks, scrambling up Mallorcan peaks at 6 months and she walked up Cadair Idris at 7 months. This time has been a bit harder but we still went to the Lakes and did some scrambling last week when she was 17 weeks gone. I think the exercise and fitness it gave her helped her when it came to the labour and delivery which went on rather a long time (5 days!!!)
Regarding advice - ou could try 'she cycles' advice pages and forum: http://www.shecycles.com/defaultAdvice.asp?sp=&v=4 particularly the 'clinic' section where you can post any specific questions to a female cyclist and medical doctor. There is also this article about pregnancy and cycling: http://www.shecycles.com/news/article/mps/UAN/197/V/1/SP/
More info about sports and pregnancy here: http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0042.htm If you search the PP online site there is quite a bit more related to specific sports, though I cant see anything about cycling.
5 days was from the beginning of the 'pre labour' pains which the midwives were a bit dismissive of, but came every 15 -20 mins (slightly less often during the night) and which really hurt according to Rosey. The midwives said it was niggling and completely different to 'proper' labour pains which would come later. When Rosey was in established labour she said the pians felt excatly the same! Anyway, four nightt of virtually no sleep for both of us and five days of labour for Rosey. It was quite awful actually. It didn't help that some other women were coming into the hospital and giving birth literally ten minutes later. But, only 14 months later Rosey is four months pregnant agina so it can't have put her off.
My mother was born when my 8 1/2 month pregnant grandmother fell off her bike when riding too fast down hill!!
