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Pregnancy and Tournaments!!

parkrangers

Donna
May 21, 2003
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the most dangerous time is in the first 3 months of pregnancy at which point most women are not sure if they are pregnant or not, with my first I didn’t know until I was 5 months and I had been doing all the tings I did in every day life so even when I found out I carried on doing them and had a normal little boy also with my second I did the same which meant i rode my horse until i was 8 months pregnant in this time i carried on jumping and all sorts.
there is so much fluid that protects the baby from harm the chances of it doing any really damage are very slim pregnant women fall over and they are fine i think all though it is nice to see some of you are being just a little over protective of us girls and the next generation of ballers.
Exercise is good for pregnant due to the fact that it helps our hips strengthen and helps with stamina during birth and come on its got to help with the pain side of it you get used to being shot so you pain tolerance level goes up to.
if a woman wants to play while pregnant it is up to her and no one should give her a hard time for it
;)
 

Dark Warrior

www.paintballscene.co.uk
Nov 28, 2002
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A paintball hit to the breast without chest protection can cause trauma and severe complication within the breast.
The same sort of hit to the belly of a pregnant woman will no doubt cause similar damage

If you continue to play whilst pregnant then you are irresponsible and have no consideration for the heatlh of the unborn child and your own well being and in this time of litigation madness - dare you risk being the first to be sued for causing the death of a child due to being hit in the belly by paintballs

As regards protection - I doubt if any company will ever make it
 

Sinner

Squirrel watcher
Jul 11, 2001
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The human body actually does a pretty good job at protecting our our rather delicate internals, including unborn children, with evolution equiping us to deal with the likes of lions wanting to introduce us to their collection of sharp, pointy things and similar hazards that could result in a variety of traumas.

But - and there's always a but - nothing is a certainty and even in sports or activities that you'd never imagine could cause a serious injury or a miscarriage, such accidents do occur. You can trip while walking & break bones, tear ligaments & muscles, even kill yourself via a broken neck. So while a doctor might say that paintball should be safe, assuming they truely know what the sport entails, you are still taking a calculated risk.

And that's the big question: is the risk, no matter how big or small, worth the life or long-term health of the baby compared with the loss of a few months of what is a luxury, not a neccessity for life.

And it's not just a question of protecting the woman's torso since miscarriages can be triggered by stress or pain. It would not be impossible to have a situation where a pregnant woman gets mugged, getting shot multiple times in the throat or some other sensitive area and the pain causes a miscarriage.

So is playing paintball, a mere hobby - I know, I know! Please don't flame or stone me as a heretic - really worth the risk? A life lost or potentially severely limited for the sake of what is only an hour or two of actual playing time per month for most of us. Personally I'd say not, that it's no different than stopping playing for a few months while recovering from an injury or operation. You can still be a part of the game, helping the team setup between games or just spectating, or - shock & horror! - even do something else. Ok, silly idea, I forgot I'm talking to hardcore ballers here & we have no life outside of the game. :p

Assuming the woman choses to play, and that her significant other and the site, judges, other players are willing/happy/whatever to accept this, then I would say that she should wear hard protection. It might be inconvenient to have to maybe have to purchase progressively larger protection, but that's the price she should be willing to accept to reduce risks as much as possible so that she can continue playing.

Obviously it would be absurd to suggest that a woman became pregnant just for the advantage of being able to wear soft protection in the hope of a few extra bounces, but the rules do state that such protection is not allowed, with no provisos or loopholes that some of our less scrupulous brethren might try to exploit. Just because the alternative - hard protection - might be somewhat inconvenient is no excuse to allow an exception.

A last thought, one that is perhaps somewhat cynical and cold given the potential tragedy we're discussing, but it should be said: the possible media reaction to a miscarriage due to paintball could cause just as much damage to the image of the sport as kids shooting people in the streets, etc. It might not make much sense, but the media - with the general public and politicians following swiftly behind - often do form irrational opinions and take absurd stances. Such a situation might not cause paintball to be banned - although I just had a thought about the pro-life looneys in the US - but how about a velocity cap or rate of fire cap being enforced, or any other bizarre solution that the politicians and bureaucrats could then come up with in the desire to be seen to be doing something.
 

JoseDominguez

New cut and carved spine!
Oct 25, 2002
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Lots of posters are overplaying the danger posed by repeated hits, throat hits etc..... it's not that much more dangerous than it is to anyone else....... the female body is built to take a damn site more.
I couldn't care less, I'm not taking to the field and running the risk of charging headlong into a pregnant woman on the field..........I'm not making a judgement, it's a matter of personal taste......... right or wrong, I am not going to do it. So fine, play, I just won't be on the field..... my problem.
It may be perfectly safe to put half a dozen paintballs into a pregnant woman during a mugging........ I'm not prepared to do it. Just taste, nothing more. It's like eating beetroot... I'm not saying it's wrong, but the thought of doing it disgusts me........ same thing here.
One of our team was out for six months with a broken collar bone..... doctor said paintballs were no danger, but the risk of collision/falling on a marker was just too high. In the end, the doctor will leave the decision up to the individual....... fine if it's only going to affect the individual. But I'm not prepared to be one half of a tragedy.
Anyway, the risks are minimal, that's a fact and most posters are overreacting about the danger (I particularly liked the one about "if it's OK with the marshalls and your other half" nice)...... but I just couldn't do it, I really couldn't.
 

BigG

Evil Spirit
Feb 29, 2004
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bumps

surely if you carried on playing ball with a baby bump and you got hit endless times on your bumpity bump, wouldnt the baby comeout looking more like a golfball with all the dents over it?
 

Liz

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Jan 17, 2002
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Originally posted by Mak D - Nexus Eclipse


Liz I ll try to make this as clear as I can......... Paintball is potentially more harmfull than running a long distance through the country side (why the hell would u do that anyway is beyond me) because................... NO ONE IS SHOOTING AT YOU ARE THEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And your right I aint ever watched cross country before, not really my idea of an exciting sport to watch

Mak D
:cool:
Go out for a couple of hours & look how far this thread has gone!

Mak D - as someone else kindly pointed out I meant the horse riding 3-day event, as has just been on TV at the Olympics. Cross country riding is one of the higher risk sports around, and the possible injuries are horrific and can be fatal. Like falls giving broken necks and backs, like the poor woman who was crushed to death when her horse fell & trapped her against the jump, like smashed bones. Being catapaulted to the ground at well over 30 mph WILL case injury in some cases. Between me and one friend we have accumulated 3 broken noses, two dislocated shoulders, a broken ankle, a broken lower leg, 3 chipped vertebrae and innumerable concussions not to mention a variety of broken fingers and sprains which we never bothered to count, and we just did it a novice level!:eek:
 

stongle

Crazy Elk. Mooooooooooo
Aug 23, 2002
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The potential for accidental damage in Paintball is fairly high so why take the risk. Whilst I'm sure the chance of injury through hits is very unlikely, the chances of running into trees, falling down ditches in Rec and the obvious danger in Sup-Air, makes me wonder why you'd want to bother. Tournament or Sup Air requires a killer will, diving over bunkers, shooting at close range and the threat of physical retaliation is part of the game, in my mind anyone who contemplates it has to be a slice of bread short of a sandwich.

If you've made the lifestyle choice to have kids why, even if the chance is 1 in a million take the risk. Selfish and unacceptable in my mind, but hey I still hold the door open for ladies so I must be a pig.

Whilst Russell can give a view on the MPANL as regards top padding rules, remember different series all have different rules. The Rules as written for UK Domestic tourneys are not applicable. Since the non-contributing US "scanners" may also be reading they should take note to check themselves, especially as the likelihood of a pregnant person playing is much higher.

The rules on padding are really a reflection of the sad and unsafe rules on Paint. Use of padding wouldn't be an issue if teams had to shoot frangible paint. However since many teams are willing to shoot substandard paint that doesn't break a small and vocal minority are going to protest about bouncers.
 

Dark Warrior

www.paintballscene.co.uk
Nov 28, 2002
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Originally posted by parkrangers
the most dangerous time is in the first 3 months of pregnancy at which point most women are not sure if they are pregnant or not, with my first I didn’t know until I was 5 months and I had been doing all the tings I did in every day life so even when I found out I carried on doing them and had a normal little boy also with my second I did the same which meant i rode my horse until i was 8 months pregnant in this time i carried on jumping and all sorts.
there is so much fluid that protects the baby from harm the chances of it doing any really damage are very slim pregnant women fall over and they are fine i think all though it is nice to see some of you are being just a little over protective of us girls and the next generation of ballers.
Exercise is good for pregnant due to the fact that it helps our hips strengthen and helps with stamina during birth and come on its got to help with the pain side of it you get used to being shot so you pain tolerance level goes up to.
if a woman wants to play while pregnant it is up to her and no one should give her a hard time for it
;)
What did you say your Doc said to you after recieving those hits to your chest at that event earlier this year?
Does that not give you a different perspective.