I sent a response to Wendi (at the Parachutist) but haven't gotten the most recent edition. This is what I had sent to her
Pregnancy and Skydiving
There is little true research done on the effects of skydiving and pregnancy or on the changes related to pregnancy and their effects on skydiving. However, with what we do know about skydiving and the medical knowledge of pregnancy, some conclusions can be made. The following article is not intended to stand on its own as absolute recommendations, rather it should be discussed with an Obstetrician or Family Physician that can integrate this information into a whole person plan of care.
General Risks: Accident statistics as provided by United States Parachute Association (USPA) revealed that in 2005, of the 31,276 USPA members making nearly 2.2 million skydives, there were 962 USPA members requiring medical attention with 27 fatalities (www.uspa.org/about/page2/relative_safety.htm). General risks of skydiving include but are not limited to risk of injury leaving the aircraft or during freefall, risk of injury with deployment of main parachute, risk of malfunction of main and need for reserve deployment, and risk associated with flying of parachute and landing. While it may be impossible to exactly quantify the risks with each area, there are risk modifiers that can be used to reduce the risks taken. Simple safety techniques such as participating in Safety Day events at the local dropzone and consistent practice of equipment checks help to reduce a portion of the inherent risks. Additionally experience level, wing loading and currency needs to be evaluated.
Normal changes of pregnancy add to the complex risks of skydiving. This is due to effects of hormones, changes in internal organs and the presence of the baby.
One of these hormones includes Relaxin. Relaxin causes the ligaments and joints to become more flexible, which could affect joint stability and increase risks associated with landings. Estrogen and progesterone have significant effects on the pregnant body, but have less of an effect on factors related to physical activity or skydiving. Other hormones also are increased, but like estrogen and progesterone, would have little impact on skydiving. Epinephrine is a hormone that is not specific to pregnancy but does regulate blood flow to the organs in the pregnant body. With significant changes in levels (high stress situations), blood could be redirected away from the uterus to more “key” organs such as the heart, lungs and brain.
The changes in internal organs include the obvious growth of the uterus as the pregnancy progresses. In the first trimester (first 12 weeks), the uterus is protected by the bony pelvis. After that, the uterus grows into the abdomen and would be more susceptible to injury. Specifically in the uterus is the placenta, which is the organ that feeds the baby. The risks of the placenta separating (placental abruption) become more significant as the pregnancy progresses. A placental abruption could cause serious problems, not just for the pregnancy, but also possibly for the pregnant jumper. Any type of trauma to the abdomen, especially later in the pregnancy is very concerning. Whether it’s a fall down the stairs and hitting her belly, a car accident or a hard opening.... all could cause problems. It's not guaranteed that it will cause problems, and there's no guarantee in life that it will all work out even if everything is done correctly. But to better understand this risk, consider that the average opening shock after a skydive performed at terminal velocity is approximately 3-6 g’s (per Parks College Parachute Research Group; Jean Potvin and Gary Peek). These forces are influenced by body position and inflation of the parachute. Hard openings have been documented to 9-12 g’s. With comparing that level of g force to an automobile accident, research done by Marc Ross, et al. has shown that during a 35mph head on test crash to a fixed barrier, the restrained test dummy has a maximum deceleration of 27g’s. This suggests that a hard opening can cause a force comparable to one third or about one half of that of a major motor vehicle accident. According to Schiff et al., data on motor vehicle accidents and pregnancy shows a significant risk of placental abruption and preterm labor for both injured and uninjured women in the accidents. There is also risk of fetal injury or death following motor vehicle accidents.
In conclusion, there are a lot of factors that could influence injury with skydiving while pregnant. There are no real studies to recommend one action over the other, just comparative data and professional opinion. Both of which could be wrong. Remember, it's not the doctors job to tell someone how to live. The responsibility of the medical field is to educate people on the risks that certain activities might have on his/her health. It's the individuals life and his/her decisions to live that life the way that he/she feels that is important. I, personally, rarely tell my patients that they "can't" do anything... that's not my job. I tell them why I wouldn’t recommend certain activities in an educated and logical way, understanding of course that life is not logical.
Karen Bordson
