Effects on a pregnant woman

[tboesche]

As you all know, my pregnant daughter is moving here while her husband deploys. While she is here I would like to take her shooting with me, something we never seemed to be able to do while she lived with me. Anyway, my question is this,

Is there any medical evidence on the effects of gunfire on a woman or her baby. No jokes about if she gets shot! Seriously though, I had never thought of this before. What are the dangers of a day at the range for the baby? Are there any?

[seamusTX]

Yes. Lead is not good for unborn or young children. I would avoid an indoor range, revolvers, and plain lead bullets.

There is also some lead in the fumes from primers, not a lot; but it's important to wash one's hands as soon as possible.

P.S.: Rifles and shotguns offer less exposure than handguns.

- Jim

[Tactical_Texan_CHL]

I've been told that loud sounds like gunshots can have negative effects on the baby's hearing. The sound is amplified by the amniotic fluid and can damage the kiddo's ear drums. You know, like when scuba diving, tapping on your tank or something sound so much louder under water than outside the water. I'm not sure if that's true. I was just told by an OB nurse a long time ago.

[jimlongley]

Sound travels faster and with different intensity in fluids as opposed to air, but there is no amplification.

I would expect the effect to be comparable to putting your head underwater in a bathtub or pool and trying to hear what's going on obove the surface. The sound that penetrates the air interface will be heavily attenuated, and then have to pass through integument, fatty tissue, and muscle before reaching the amniotic sac.

The sound of something tapping on a tank is happening right in the medium that the ears are in lending to an appearance of greater volume, and then there is the illusion created by the fact that our eyes see that the noisemaker is this far away, and our air trained ears expect this level of volume.

I would expect it to be safe for your daughter to shoot as long as she avoids exposure to lead and mercury fumes.

My daughter shot on our indoor rifle league until she was too large to get into a prone position and my grandson has never shown much in the way of ill effects, although . . .

[dave_in_austin]

I've been told that loud sounds like gunshots can have negative effects on the baby's hearing. The sound is amplified by the amniotic fluid and can damage the kiddo's ear drums. You know, like when scuba diving, tapping on your tank or something sound so much louder under water than outside the water. I'm not sure if that's true. I was just told by an OB nurse a long time ago.

I have some serious doubts about this for a couple of reasons. The first is that due to the impedance mismatch between the air and the body, much of the sound will be reflected and will never enter the mother's body. To see this effect, stick you head under the water of a swimming pool and try to hear what a person above water is saying to you. The second is that both the outer and middle ear of the baby are not filled with air but rather with fluid that is essentially incompressible and thus the eardrum does not move as much as it would with the same sound level in air. This is not to say I am claiming that is safe for the child, but I do not think that the concept of the sound being amplified by the amniotic fluid is correct.

[RugerP345]

Well, my wife did not shoot while she was preganant, which made for a very long 40 weeks! She didnt like the idea of breathing atomized lead particulate. Here is a link regarding the noise subject with the article below. Please note that the article below pertains to sustained noise, but I think noise would be the last thing to worry about.

http://pregnancyandbaby.com/pregnancy/b ... cy-472.htm

And here is a link to the American Academy of Pediatrics regarding Noise. Article was too long to post here.

http://www.medem.com/search/article_dis ... =NAV_SERCH

Should I stay or should I go? Concerts during pregnancy


By: Jane Forester

Who doesn't like a good concert? But before you get tickets, let's look at how loud music can affect your pregnancy.

Question:
Are there any problems with attending a loud concert during pregnancy?

Family Physician Jane Forester, DO, answers:
The effects of sustained loud noise on an unborn baby are not known. It has been associated with miscarriages in animals, but no definite connection between humans, loud noises and miscarriages has been found. The studies also are inconclusive as to the effects of vibration on the baby, which often accompanies sustained loud noise.

What we do know: By the 20th week of pregnancy, your baby has developed the structures necessary to receive sound impulses. By about the 24th week, your baby can hear and will react to loud, sudden noises. So, if you have an occupation that forces you to be around loud noise or sustained vibration throughout your workday, request a temporary transfer to a quieter division until after your delivery.

Whether noise harms your hearing depends on its loudness, its pitch and the length of exposure. The loudness of sounds -- measured in decibels (dB) -- and the length of exposure are related. The louder the sound, the faster damage will occur. For example, eight hours of exposure to 85 dB industrial noise daily is considered relatively safe for most people. However, using power tools (100 dB), listening through a stereo headset (110 dB) or attending a rock concert (about 120 dB) may damage hearing after just a few exposures.

Editor's note: Want to know one thing that is definitely safe? Reading about rock music! Check out some celebrity interviews (including Slash of Velvet Revolver/Guns 'n' Roses talking about his baby son) right here.

[jbirdswife]

I was concerned about the same thing last year. My OB suggested that I not shoot while I was pregnant, she did not tell me that I couldn't. She did say it was okay for me to watch Jason shoot IDPA until my third trimester, as long as it was outside and I stayed back away from the line. I read many articles with differing opinions, but when it came down to it I just didn't want to take any chances. As far as pregnancy goes, there were so many things that were out of my control, I just figured this was one that I had complete control of and I didn't want to have to deal with the thoughts of "if only I hadn't..."

Congrats on the soon-to-be grandbaby! Please tell your son-in-law thank you for serving our country - - I can't even imagine how hard it must be for him to be gone during this exciting time in the life of his family. We will be praying for them!

Kimberly

[308nato]

If you go indoors just make sure the guy next to you is not shooting a .460 cal. you will here it and feel it.

[CJATE]

My wife gave birth a week ago tomorrow. We did not let her shoot. Too many say no, and the others are uncertain. We decided (like many things) if you should limit or take precautions, just eliminate it, it’s only 9 months.

Fish
Wine
caffeine
shooting
Ect…

It was easy,,, but it was not me eliminating these things

[StrykerDM]

I was concerned about the same thing last year. My OB suggested that I not shoot while I was pregnant, she did not tell me that I couldn't. She did say it was okay for me to watch Jason shoot IDPA until my third trimester, as long as it was outside and I stayed back away from the line. I read many articles with differing opinions, but when it came down to it I just didn't want to take any chances. As far as pregnancy goes, there were so many things that were out of my control, I just figured this was one that I had complete control of and I didn't want to have to deal with the thoughts of "if only I hadn't..."

Congrats on the soon-to-be grandbaby! Please tell your son-in-law thank you for serving our country - - I can't even imagine how hard it must be for him to be gone during this exciting time in the life of his family. We will be praying for them!

Kimberly

+1

that's probably the best advice...She should ask her OB and go with what her advice is. Better safe than sorry...

[tboesche]

Thanks for all of the replies. I'm sure the smart thing to do is to not let her shoot. I misssed so many opportunities to teach her when we were living in Europe, Now that she will be home again for a few months I was hoping to make up for lost time. But as most everybody has said, the safest thing for the baby is to not expose her to the risk.

Kimberly,
Thank you for the prayers, and i will definately pass on your thanks when I see him next week.

[jbirds1210]

I was concerned about the same thing last year. My OB suggested that I not shoot while I was pregnant, she did not tell me that I couldn't. She did say it was okay for me to watch Jason shoot IDPA until my third trimester, as long as it was outside and I stayed back away from the line. I read many articles with differing opinions, but when it came down to it I just didn't want to take any chances. As far as pregnancy goes, there were so many things that were out of my control, I just figured this was one that I had complete control of and I didn't want to have to deal with the thoughts of "if only I hadn't..."

Congrats on the soon-to-be grandbaby! Please tell your son-in-law thank you for serving our country - - I can't even imagine how hard it must be for him to be gone during this exciting time in the life of his family. We will be praying for them!

Kimberly

+1


that's probably the best advice...She should ask her OB and go with what her advice is. Better safe than sorry...

You should have seen the look on the face of our OB when Kimberly asked her that question. She actually said, "now this is a first".

[seamusTX]

Hey, I see no possible hazard from shooting non-firearm guns, BB guns, CO2, AirSoft, etc. Your daughter can develop safe handling, stance, grip, trigger control, and aim. Those skills will carry over to firearms. In many cases you can do it in your back yard without an expensive trip to the range.

- Jim

[anygunanywhere]

We are forgetting here that there is physical contact between the shooter and the firearm. The explosive noise produced at the weapon is hard coupled to your body. We do hear the shot and that noise does not really cross the air/body interface. The sound transferred by the physical contact with the weapon is the issue.

Finding any study regarding what amount of sound energy makes it to the developing fetus would be difficult, but I would not take the chance. Once hearing is gone it never recovers fully. Ask Mrs. Anygun.

I have had a burst eardrum from excessive sound energy level. When your submarine wanders into a live sink exercise by the Italian navy and you are sitting on the passive sonar when the torpedo detonates it will do some damage to your ears. The lat/lon coordinates we received on the intel were off by a few hundred miles. The four words you do not want to say on a submarine are "Torpedo in the water!"

Sound travels around 7 times faster in water than in air and much further. Increasing depth (pressure) and colder water also increases the speed of sound in water. Sound waves are actually steered by the effects of water and the effect can cause the sound to be carried for thousands of miles. We used to track contacts for hundreds of miles on the sub.

This is how whales communicate and how we knew where the soviet boomers were stationed during the cold war.

Anygunanywhere

[Keith B]

You should have seen the look on the face of our OB when Kimberly asked her that question. She actually said, "now this is a first".

But I'll bet the look on the OB's face was even better when Jason asked 'How soon after the baby is born can they learn the proper grip on a Glock?'