Can you ride a motorcycle when pregnant?

Are you pregnant and would still love riding a motorcycle? If so, here are some points to ponder for your safety and your unborn child.

Riding a motorcycle is a high-risk activity. It puts a lot of strain on your body and gives further stress to a body that is already supporting the lives of two people. Nowadays, some women, especially the young ones, are into motorcycle riding regardless of the high risk of injury, disability and death.

Is riding a motorcycle while pregnant okay?

Riding a motorcycle comes with its risks and precautions but riding a motorcycle while pregnant is different. It is safer though in the first months to do sports and so riding a motorcycle.

When you’re pregnant, your body will undergo adaptive changes in preparation for childbirth. Reproductive organs will gradually go through a certain process starting from hormonal changes, which will advertently affect being pregnant’s physical and mental states.

During a motorcycle ride, your cardiovascular system speeds up. Your adrenalin level goes up, creating a particular strain on the body, especially on a pregnant woman resulting in exposure of the uterus to shocks and vibrations that can affect the early stages in the embryo’s implantation.

In the later part of the pregnancy, particularly the second and third trimesters, it may also cause severe damage to ligaments around the uterus and irreversible damage to the foetus in case of accidents. While riding a motorcycle when pregnant, mental and physical stress can also result in pathological complications during and after childbirth.

Can bumpy rides affect early pregnancy?

In most cases, for women whose pregnancies are considered at risk, doctors generally recommend that they should avoid any high-risk activities like riding a motorcycle because it can potentially harm them and the foetus.

Pregnancy is not necessarily affected by gravity. Hormones such as progesterone protect the uterus during pregnancy. Thus, simple jerks or bumpy rides don’t cause any harm and won’t hurt the foetus.

Driving on a gravel road or when you hit a speed bump can pose a potential danger for pregnant women and their foetuses. Injuries to the foetal brain and other complications like uterine contractions abdominal pain are common causes when pregnant women are on solid and accelerated bumpy rides. Meanwhile, travelling on bumpy roads is not advisable during the first trimester.

Is it safe to go on bumpy rides while pregnant?

In most cases, doctors usually indicate that bumpy rides, especially riding a motorcycle, do not benefit pregnant women or the unborn child. Though it is more or less OK for pregnant women to go on bumpy rides, the amniotic sac fluid helps cushion the unborn baby as it floats and moves inside the womb, thereby protecting itself from bumps and injuries.

Bumpy rides are not inherently dangerous to pregnancy, yet the fact remains that riding a motorcycle is a riskier mode of transportation. Yet strenuous journeys may still affect the baby’s health or even the mother’s wellness leading to physical discomforts such as back pains. Avoid motorcycle riding until after pregnancy if you feel uncomfortable with this risk.

Thanks to the protective fluid inside the uterus, jumping, running and bumpy rides won’t affect the baby. If possible, avoid severe bumpy roads, speed bumps or potholes ridden roads and drive slowly when driving.