Sport while pregnant

Hi everyone,

Some advice please. At which point did you say enough was enough when playing competition sport?

I am just on 11 weeks and am playing competition indoor soccer once a week and still having a friendly kick about about once a week as well. I am fit and healthy and have no health concerns past or present. One of the first questions I asked my Doc when I found out I was going to have junior was "is it safe for me to continue with my sport?" She replied that it would be OK up until the 12th week OR until I found it uncomfortable- but to try not to get my heart rate above 120 bpm. I told my team last week after our game about junior and they were all happy. We have now gone through into the finals and I have been TOLD by my team captain that as it would be best for me, I was not to play anymore. Now, he's not a doctor, nor had he spoken to my doctor and I really resent being told that I am a "liability" and am being selfish for wanting to play. As it stands, there are only 2 (well possibly 1!) more games for our team this season, and as this would fall right on my 12 weeks, I was going to retire next week. I have also checked with the sports center and they don't have any problem with pregnant women playing as long as they are fit and if necessary can produce a medical certificate- which I can. He made me feel like the worst person in the world for wanting to continue playing and told me I had to put my baby first and not to do that was selfish. Indoor soccer isn't a contact sport and I have spoken to my husband who has seen me play before and is fine with me playing until my 12th week. The decesion to play is my decision and my decision alone and I do not feel like I am endangering myself or my child. Am I a bad person for wanting to do this? Has anyone else been treated like this?

Kruz.

I know how it feels to restrict from playing your favourite sport. I am sorry, I do not know what to advise. Probably I would have stopped playing, for the fear of not causing trouble to the kid, but this is my personal opinion.

I play indoor soccer as well, but am a bit of a nut case so will be stopping pretty well as soon as I fall pregnant (I'm clumsy too & have some sort of injury every week LOL). However, having said that, you have consulted your Dr & done everything necessary to make your decision I don't see how it's anyone else's business. You do what's right for you & your baby.

I was 'lucky' in that I had an ankle injury just before falling pg, so would have missed out on my soccer finals anyway. I felt too sick to have been playing if I wasn't injured, so I guess I still wouldn't have played. I don't know if I would have felt comfortable playing. I'm an aggressive player though so I would be worried about copping a hard ball (or elbow or boot) to the tummy, even though at 12 weeks bubs' is still well protected in there.

If it helps, Bob went on rollercoasters at Disneyland with me when I was 8 weeks pg and he's still fine. I just made sure I didn't get any impact on my tummy at all.

I played netball when pg with #3 until 12 weeks and then the comp finished anyway, but probably wouldn't have played past that stage. I did paly tennis still until I was 5months pg, but only very casually and not a lot of running.

You're not selfish at all - in fact, research in mice showed that mice who had mummies who exercised in pregnancy had more brain-power than mice with lazy mummies. OK, so the mice didn't play soccer, but that's not the point.

At 7-8w I was doing hi-impact aerobics and stomach crunches. At 12w I was doing lo-impact aerobics and yoga. I was still running at about 20w, but that's had to stop now - first the sciatica made it hard, then I found I was getting too breathless. Although I'm cutting back, I'm doing it slowly - I'm still dancing around to the radio and doing all my stretching, only more mildly than before.

The main danger is if someone hits you in the stomach, or the ball does, but as the baby is still tucked inside your hips then it should be safe until the second trimester, when the uterus starts to grow out.

I played netball up until the end of the season and I was probably around 15 weeks. What really made me stop was that my uniform didn't fit me anymore! lol I stopped playing when I wanted to - It was no one else's decision!
Good luck - I hope you win your Grand Final!:cool:

I stopped sport at 12 weeks i didnt want to risk anything but everyone is different

I played A grade netball till i was 15 weeks - then i got really tired quick
Do what you feel is right! It felt right to me