Shoveling snow while pregnant?

[Amalee]

I live in New England, where we are at the start of a snow storm that is supposed to dump 6-12 inches of snow on us. That means my driveway is going to need to be shoveled out! My husband and I haven't moved into our house yet, so we'll be driving over tomorrow once the snow has stopped to shovel out the driveway and sidewalk. How safe is it for me to help? I'm 15 weeks. And I'm not worried about overworking myself, I know my body and will take breaks as needed. I'm worried about the risk of falling on slippery/icy pavement. I've looked online, but the advice available only seems to address the issue of overworking yourself, not whether or not the risk of falling is an issue.

 

[ItsAWonder]

You should ask your doctor. Where I live it snows up to 2-3 feet at a time but New England snow is very wet and dense. My doctor was not just worried about the weight of each shovel but also the twisting factor as I throw the snow. He told me no shoveling this year.

 

[2have4kids]

I live in Canada and it's been the worst year yet. If you're not bleeding and you're physically fit and do regular strenuous exercise anyway then you should be fine. I've been clearing ours every other time it snows for a few weeks now and haven't had issues. But I also do yoga, climbing, kick boxing and regularly go to the gym. What my doc said about fitness is that your body will guide you, if you're doing too much you will cramp or get the Braxton Higgs. Listen to your body and make sure you stay hydrated at all times.

 

[supertabby]

It's generally not a good idea to do more strenuous exercise than you're regularly used to prior to pregnancy - so a keen runner can carry on running but a novice shouldn't take it up pregnancy).

In terms of pregnant women always being told not to lift, this is because of the relaxin hormone levels rising in pregnancy to allow your stomach muscles to stretch - it puts you at risk of pulling a muscle more easily. But generally in a normal pregnancy the baby isn't in danger from lifting etc,only mother is.

Falling is another story - usually a fall, even a bad one, is not dangerous to baby - they're well protected in there (women have been known to fall downstairs or be in bad car crashes with baby being perfectly fine). But occasionally a fall or blow to the stomach can harm the baby so I personally would be wary about being outside in the snow shovelling or dashing around. It'd be silly to avoid outdoors entirely but I'd go steady to avoid slipping or to less the impact if you do slip.

 

[2have4kids]

YakTrax are great to avoid slips, fits over the bottom of your shoes and grip to anything.

 

[Starry Night]

I am a weakling during pregnancy so I'm avoiding shoveling this year. Everything gives me BH, it seems. I hate it.

And it has been a bad year for snow falls and shoveling. Our neighbour has a tractor and sometimes will plow out all the driveways on the street after a bad storm. (we live in a small, rural town)

 

[Amalee]

Thanks everyone! I wasn't worried about it being physically strenuous, as I know I'm physically fit enough to do it. I take breaks and push the snow rather than lifting, twisting and tossing The ground was cold enough at my parents that no snow melted then refroze, so it wasn't slippery at all in my snow boots. So we'll be heading to the new house tonight to conquer that driveway!

 

[x__amour]

I personally wouldn't, I'd be scared of falling or over straining!

 

[PugLuvAh]

I live in Canada (Ontario) and we've had a lot of snow this year.

If its light and only a few centimeters, I'll shovel. If its heavy, wet snow and ice and I'd have to do alot of lifting, I won't. I take my time and if I start feeling tired or sore I stop. Its good to get fresh air and do some exercise, but I don't want to hurt myself or baby. I also make sure to wear really good boots so I won't slip on the ice.

 

[petite ping]

If you have had no complications, I would see no problems with shovelling snow. Just listen to your body as your joints may have gone all loopy with hormones and you may injure yourself if you are not careful. It won't harm the baby but may be a bit painful for you.

 

[sun]

I am also in Canada and still shovelling (though we haven't had much over the past few weeks. In December I felt like I was shovelling constantly though! I even did it a few times carrying my 2yo on my back too LOL.

 

[Amalee]

I'm just glad it was so light and dry! We kept on top of it so I was never pushing more than 2" of snow at a time. A few weeks ago though we got heavy, slushy, gross snow. I cleared off the front step (I was the only one home at the time and didn't want to risk having it freeze, then slipping on it later) - it wasn't difficult or anything since it was such a small area, but holy crap, it had me soaked in a minute! I'm just glad it wasn't like that!

 

[TomMartin]

Don't do intense work while you are pregnant, even though you are in the first semester. Ask a friend or a neighbor to help you with the snow.