Can You Skydive While Pregnant?
Skydiving
There are many incredible milestones that mark important points in our lives. Professional achievements, buying a house, getting married, having a baby, even skydiving for the first time. It can be doubly amazing when these moments overlap. But two that don’t mix well are being pregnant and going skydiving.
So, can you skydive pregnant? In short, the answer is no.
Between the changes to the body that happen during pregnancy and the risk associated with skydiving, jumping out of an airplane while pregnant isn’t a good idea. Whether or not skydiving can cause a miscarriage is a little more complicated. In general, though, the increased risk of going skydiving means there’s an increased risk of complications if you jump while pregnant.
Even skydiving in the first trimester isn’t recommended. As soon as you know you have a baby on board, cutting out unnecessary risks is for the best. Some licensed skydivers do choose to continue to jump through their pregnancy, but that’s up to them and their doctor to weigh the risks and make an informed decision regarding their lifestyle. Doing your first tandem, or any student jump for that matter, is a big no-no if you plan to bring a little person along – even if they won’t make their debut for another nine months.
Okay, what about postpartum? Can you skydive after giving birth? Yes! In fact, we hope you will. Once you’re healed from your delivery experience, the sky’s the limit for what you can do. Literally!
Why Shouldn’t You Skydive While Pregnant?
What’s the big deal? After all, it’s actually good for the baby if someone is active while carrying. Isn’t skydiving one of the most active things a person can do? As with everything, there’s a limit.
Staying active is a great way to keep everyone healthy throughout pregnancy. But skydiving goes above and beyond typical physical activity. Is it safe to skydive pregnant? Between climbing in and out of airplanes, pushing your hips out to execute an arch position, and holding your legs up to slide in your landing, skydiving puts the joints and muscles through the wringer.
When a person is pregnant, their body releases two hormones called relaxin and progesterone. The main job of these hormones is to loosen joints and ligaments and reduce musculoskeletal cohesion. That’s a lot of big words to say: being pregnant puts the body at increased risk of injury. It’s ill-advised to put your body under the stress of skydiving while injury is more likely.
Plus, there’s an increased risk that comes with going skydiving. And skydiving isn’t going to be as much fun if you’re worried about something happening to the sweet babe growing in your belly. As much as we understand that skydiving is life, waiting nine months to jump out of an airplane doesn’t seem all that bad in the grand scheme of things!
What About Skydiving After the Baby is Born?
Postpartum skydives are not only okay, they’re encouraged! You just spent the better part of a year growing another human being, do something for yourself for a change! As long as you feel comfortable, your body is healed, and your doctor’s cool with it, jumping out of an airplane after giving birth is totally OK.
Think of how cool that new baby will think you are when they find out you went skydiving to celebrate their birth! Pro tip: You can even put a skydiving gift certificate on your shower registry.
And why not go again when your not-so-little baby turns 18? Talk about an amazing way to welcome your kid to adulthood! New parenting level: unlocked.
How You Can Still Enjoy Skydive Perris on the Ground
Just because your bump will keep you from jumping doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy the dropzone. Whether you’re accompanying someone doing a tandem or a licensed skydiver on hold until the baby is born, there’s plenty to do at Skydive Perris other than, well, skydiving.
You can check out all the skydivers who come in to land from their jumps, watch people fly in our indoor skydiving wind tunnel, or hang out at the pool! We also have the Bombshelter restaurant, complete with a full menu of pregnancy cravings for indoor or outdoor dining. The Bombshelter even holds events to keep people entertained when they aren’t jumping out of airplanes.
Have other questions? Check out our FAQs or get in touch! We are here to help.
