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Women shooting while pregnant...yes? or no? and why

14K views 88 replies 48 participants last post by  Steyr 
#1 ·
Here's a question we have not discussed yet. I am curious, is it safe for a pregnant woman to shoot? I have no idea and would like all your thoughts. I attempted to google this question first to see if I could find some good info on the subject, only to come across a lot of debate and not any actual facts.

My major concerns are noise, lead and of course accidents. What says you?
 
#75 ·
I used to shooton the base high power rifle team at Lowry AFB CO. Our coach wanted a few women to compete with the locals so he asked if any of our wives would be interested in taking up the sport. My wife volunteered. She is 5'1" and weighs about 110. After 8 rounds of rapid fire with an M-1she would have to crawl back up to the line, not really. She shot until she was nearly six months pregnant and could no longer get into the prone position. Were there any side effects, do not know. My oldest son is just as hard headed as his old man and I do not think the noise or recoil had anything to do with it.
 
#76 ·
No shooting at the range; not because the act itself would harm the mother or the baby, but because you can't know with 100% certainty about the safety and practices of other shooters.

It's okay to take that risk oneself, and we do it each time we go to the range; but I'm not sure it's wise to take it for an expectant mother and an unborn baby.

One act of stupidity or failure to behave responsibly by somebody else at the range could kill not just 1 person, but 2 with the same round.

A person could conceivably go from grateful man with happy family to crushed man with no family by another's single mistake or lapse in judgment.
 
#77 ·
NEW REPORT - Shooting While Pregnant Resource for Expecting Moms

A few years ago I posted an item about my youngest daughter, then a state police officer in Texas, who was told by her OB, not to shoot in her department's required quarterly firearms qualifications, and gave her a letter to give to her supervisors.

Noe there is a FREE publication (free registration required to download it) where th topic
Shooting While Pregnant Resource for Expecting Moms

is researched and discussed in an orderly fashion.

Shooting While Pregnant Resource for Expecting Moms Julie Golob

Shooting While Pregnant Resource for Expecting Moms Julie Golob

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Published by AmmoLand Shooting Sports News
Coming off of a recent maternity leave, competition shooter Julie Golob addresses the topics of lead, noise and contaminant exposure in her newly released ePub, “Shooting While Pregnant – A Resource for Expecting Moms.”
More info:

Categories:Books - Non-fiction
Published by: AmmoLand Shooting Sports News on Jan 05, 2014

FIRST FEW PAGES: (would not properly format when copied and pasted)



Because the symptoms from lead poisoning are so broad, people may not even realize they have it. At the very least, the affect of these symptoms on a shooter means he or she is unlikely to achieve optimal performance on the range. For competition shooters, their abilities to train effectively and compete at top levels are compromised.Lead exposure is even more serious for children. Americans became aware of the dangers of lead poisoning and how it affects children decades ago. Before the 1950s, popular toys like small American soldier figurines were made of lead alloy. Because of public fears regarding lead exposure, plastic became the preferred material. As with adults, the symptoms of lead poisoning in children can point to a number of ailments.Considering the impact on adults and children, lead exposure also is a concern for pregnant women and newborns. Pregnant women with lead poisoning could suffer miscarriages or premature births. Newborns and babies who are exposed to lead before birth may experience learning difficulties and slowed growth.

Shooting While Pregnant

by Julie Golob



The government has made efforts to protect pregnant women in the work environment, as well as unborn babies and young children, from lead poisoning. In 1988 the United States passed the Lead Contamination Control Act that authorized the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to initiate program efforts to eliminate childhood lead poisoning throughout the country.
[1]
Other government agencies also have issued warnings about lead exposure. According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), "The effects of lead exposure on fetuses and young children can be severe. They include delays in physical and mental development, lower IQ levels, shortened attention spans, and increased behavioral problems. Fetuses, infants, and children are more vulnerable to lead exposure than adults since lead is more easily absorbed into growing bodies, and the tissues of small children are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead. Children may have higher exposures since they are more likely to get lead dust on their hands and then put their fingers or other lead-contaminated objects into their mouths."
[2]
The CDC also warns how “lead can cross the placental barrier, which means pregnant women who are exposed to lead also expose their unborn child. Lead can damage a developing baby’s nervous system. Even low-level lead exposures in developing babies have been found to affect behavior and intelligence. Lead exposure can cause miscarriage, stillbirths, and infertility.”
[3]
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) created a Lead Standard that states "the physician may recommend special protective measures or medical removal for an employee who is pregnant or who is planning to conceive a child when, in the physician’s judgment, continued exposure to lead at the current job would pose a significant risk."
[4]
WAYS TO REDUCE EXPOSURE TO LEAD:
•Avoid using and eating products that may contain lead.•Avoid using containers, cookware, or tableware to store or cook foods or liquids that are not shown to be lead free.•Remove recalled toys immediately from children. Check Lead Recalls
[5]
list that the CDC has on their site.•Use only COLD water from the tap for drinking, cooking, and for making baby formula. •Shower and change clothes after finishing a task that involves working with lead-based products, such as stained glass work, bullet making, or using a firing range.•Eat and/or drink in areas where lead or lead-containing products are not being handled or processed. CDC
Shooting While Pregnant

by Julie Golob
Get insight, information and tips on shooting and competition at JulieGolob.com






NOISE
Another concern for pregnant shooters is how the noise from gunfire can affect an unborn child. An article from the American Academy of Pediatrics, titled “Noise: A Hazard for the Fetus and Newborn,” lists studies that indicate risks to unborn babies exposed to noise and concludes that, “exposure to excessive noise during pregnancy may result in high-frequency hearing loss in newborns, and may be associated with prematurity and intrauterine growth retardation.”
[6]
The Tennessee Tech University website hosts an article called “Shooting While Pregnant: Dangerous or Not,” by Elizabeth Kennedy and Fabrice Czarnecki, M.D., that addresses hearing development in an unborn child. In the article the authors explain what is both known and unknown: “One thing we do know is that fetal response to sounds begins at about 16 weeks, and the ear is structurally complete by 24 weeks. It would appear that even though the structures are all in place, the sense is not fully developed until birth. We also don't know at what point the fetus is most susceptible to noise damage of the ear, whether it's during the first trimester, second or third.”
[7]
From The Police Policies Study Council website, in an article titled “The Pregnant Officer,” Czarnecki also discusses noise toxicity and safe noise levels established by OSHA as compared to the noise from various firearms.

Noise usually is considered to be detrimental during pregnancy. In most European countries, health regulations forbid pregnant women from working in surroundings with a continuous noise level greater than 80 dB or a rapid-impulse noise level greater than 40 dB, which is much less than the noise of a firearm. In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration permissible exposure limit for rapid-impulse noise is 140 dB, with additional regulations for continuous noise. The sound levels of firearms are about 125 to 140 dB for rimfire rifles; 140 to 150 dB for rimfire pistols; and 150 to 160 dB for centerfire rifles, pistols, and shotguns.”The article cites studies in both humans and ewes that compare intrauterine measurements and the levels of protection against loud noises. This data gets compared to the amount of protection offered by foam ear plugs.
[8]
CONTAMINANTS
A third concern is exposure to contaminants. The aforementioned “Shooting While Pregnant: Dangerous or Not?” article also addresses cleaning solvents.“Toxicity from other chemicals and heavy metals besides lead, shooting and cleaning a firearm exposes you to other chemicals, including cleaning solvents, and other heavy metals, including barium, antimony, copper and arsenic. . . . Most of the experts agree that pregnant women should not clean their guns, to reduce exposure to chemicals. Guns should be cleaned by other people, away from the pregnant woman.”
Shooting While Pregnant

by Julie Golob
Get insight, information and tips on shooting and competition at JulieGolob.com

I interviewed Dr. Czarnecki for my book, SHOOT
[9]
. He is a leading authority on the matter. Aside from being a respected medical doctor, Czarnecki has also served as Medical Director of Public Safety Medicine of the Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group; Chairman of the Police Physicians Section of the International Association of Chiefs of Police; and Vice-Chair of the Public Safety Section of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. I asked him to address the dangers of lead, noise, and contaminant exposure for both pregnant women and breast-feeding moms. In “SHOOT,” Czarnecki advises, “Pregnant women should avoid lead exposure. Lead exposure during pregnancy is associated with serious complications for both the fetus and the mother, including miscarriage. Children who were exposed to lead before they were born may have lower IQ and impaired mental development. Even at low levels, lead exposure has been associated with preterm delivery, congenital abnormalities, and decreased birth weight. Current research suggests that there is no safe lead exposure threshold for children, infants, or fetuses.” He even warns about lead for women who are breastfeeding: “Lead is transmitted from the mother to the fetus, and is excreted in breast milk. For women who are breastfeeding, it is best to avoid unprotected firearms training. Wearing an appropriate respirator and careful hand hygiene should allow most breastfeeding women to safely train with firearms, especially if using lead-free ammunition.”With regard to noise, Czarnecki shares how “Noise exposure during pregnancy has been associated, in human studies, with several adverse outcomes, including miscarriage, intrauterine growth retardation, preterm delivery, hearing loss in babies and children, and hypertension in pregnancy.”This information is not meant to scare expecting moms, but warnings and recommendations are in place to protect pregnant women and their babies by identifying such risks and addressing potential problems. Pregnant women are cautioned against consuming sushi, sunny-side-up eggs, and unpasteurized products and so, it is not surprising that there are recommendations out there to limit and even cease shooting activities. I have known pregnant women who have eaten runny eggs and raw fish, just as I have known several women who have shot throughout their pregnancies. These women have also delivered happy and healthy babies.Pregnant women, who also are shooters, face the tough decision of if and when to stop shooting. Simply put, the best way to reduce exposure to the dangers is to avoid them all
Shooting While Pregnant

by Julie Golob
Get insight, information and tips on shooting and competition at JulieGolob.com
“I recommend that, during pregnancy, women not shoot firearms at all, unless in self-defense.”Fabrice Czarnecki, M.D.
MEDICAL EXPERT OPINION
 
#78 ·
Something sexy about a pregnant woman shooting a gun.
 
#79 ·
Protect hearing damage to the unborn! Free suppressors for everyone. Paid for by Obamacare as a health care benefit.
 
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#85 ·
Miss Kitty dropped out from Modding here to pursue other things.
She has taken up shotgun shooting and doing very well with it. Got at least one turkey, probably more by now, and doing exceptionally well at clays.
 
#86 ·
Congratulations!!!!! I probably wouldn't. Contrary to popular belief, your shooting skills won't degenerate that bad over the next 9 months.

On a side note. Check out the Eddie the Eagle, NRA program. (For down the road). I have two boys, both in college now. Eddie the Eagle, and devotion to gun safety, removed any child danger from our home.
 
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#88 ·
Didn't realize it was that old of a post. Hope MK comes back around someday. Tell us how the kids are doing. And talk clays. Love clays.
 
#89 ·
I myself do not shoot pregnant women....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH (kidding) yes no sound reason why pregnant women should not shoot 2 things do come to mind Lead exposure, exposure if using lead rounds, so many parts per billion for adults I am not so sure good for developing fetus in what ever parts. The other thing is the woman herself while with my first (kid) it was great times , She shot well no issues with our second child it was more Monsters Loose, Friday the 13th melody mix I was not about to turn over a loaded gun. Situational Awareness all great intentions in heart and mind did YOU fully think the situation 100% through. Loaded Weapon In unstable Hands and Mind (think it through) This is one of those to look at on an individual basis.
 
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