babe-in-womb hearing protection?

S

sbryce

New member
Just had a thought about going shooting while pregnant. (I'm currently not pregnant, so this is not personal at the moment.) I remember reading summaries of studies about how babies in the womb react to different kinds of music, and a neat study about Mama reading to baby a certain story repeatedly, then after birth reading the same story and a different one and how the baby reacted to the familiar vs. the unfamiliar stories.

I'm just going from a faulty memory here, but it seems to me that babies in the womb can hear what's going on outside the womb. I clearly remember a personal experience when dealing with a particularly upset toddler and the baby in my womb moved differently than usual. It really was quite different.

So we big people wisely wear hearing protection at the range to avoid hearing damage from those very loud noises, but what about the baby? Has anyone thought about this? I've not seen any sign at the range saying, "If you're pregnant.. . . " like I saw in the orthodontist's x-ray room last month.

Any thoughts?

--Denise, a protective mama.
 
Excellent point. I hadn't thought about it, but I think I would not go shooting were I pregnant. Well, I'll advise my wife to not go shooting when she gets pregnant :).
 
Thank you! I had never thought of this.
Honestly, I can't express my gratitude enough. I almost made a huge error in judgement. Don't want to explain further at this point, but I think you catch the drift ;)
Possible thread titles in a couple months:
Gramps new heirloom?
New or used for first gun?
Gun or NRA lifetime membership?
 
While the sounds to the fetus are indeed dampened... loud sharp sounds are heard.
Some babies are more sensitive that others.
You can test this by playing your stereo with the volume up... play some nice easy music - the baby should settle, while some hard rock you'll get the baby kicking and stuff. The more kicks - the more sensitive the baby is to loud sharp noises. If the baby is sensitive then you may want to avoid shooting altogether - or you could try wearing heavier clothes which could improve muffling. But altogether it hasnt been proved that sound will harm the unborn child.
You just dont want to discomfort the soon to be rugrat.
Yes, I spent a lot of time talking to my wife's OB/Gyn Doctor...
 
For over 10 years we have not allowed pregnant females to shoot on the range. Why take the chance? Also it may not be YOUR gun that is a problem, but someone elses near by. Best to sit around and grow fat, cute and have a healthy wonderful kid. The shooting can wait.
Numerous studies have been done and they vary, but many say beyond 9 weeks NO WAY. I'll error on the side of caution. Darned babies are so cute.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Also it may not be YOUR gun that is a problem, but someone elses near by.[/quote]

Yeah, like the 44 Magnum next to us last Saturday . . . whew!

Y'all remember I'm new at this, but last fall, someone was sighting in a rifle next to me and I was so surprised by the BOOM, I had to ask what he had--.270. I gasped and incoherently mumbled something about the deer falling over from sheer fright. I wondered what a 30-06 would sound like!

When hubby and I took a class which involved a tiny bit of range time, we took the baby and took turns staying with her in the parking lot of an outdoor range. Clear across the parking lot, my unprotected ears hurt from the sharp CRACK. Finally got smart and took her in the building. :rolleyes:

Thanks for your input, I simply had never thought of this before.

When dealing with tiny little ones, I'll err on the side of caution. Better to be safe than sorry. -- Denise
 
As far as the reports of gunfire damaging ears--good point. I never even thought about it.

However, I would not suggest that a pregnant woman go shooting, and particularly not on an indoor range, due to lead toxicity concerns.

Lead puts a kibosh on us adults in a hurry, the thought of what it can do to a developing nervous system gives me nightmares.

LawDog
 
Ok, I'm still learning! I hadn't zeroed in on the lead! :eek:

I think of hearing in part because I've had some sign language training (which includes something about the deaf culture) and because my grandmother is now almost completely deaf. My father had a really bad ear infection as a child which did damage. They tried to correct something with surgery, but he's had somewhat poor hearing all his life. Unfortunately it combined with his personality (ego forbad hearing aids) to make him more isolated from people. And I'm a musician and can't imagine not being able to hear my beloved music. I'm quite conscious of hearing being a non-renewable resource.

Lead! Oh my, I hadn't thought of lead!

--Denise
 
As many have said, the loud sounds will be muffled quite a bit. But the ear structure develops at an early stage so I wouldn't want to take a chance on damaging it. And as Brett said, I would also worry about airborn lead. It is always present but in relatively low levels - for an adult. Who knows what is an acceptable level for a fetus after the mother has breathed in or ingested a few micrograms?
 
On a more esoteric note-

Often times we "adults" flinch at the retort of gunfire, even with ear protection on. It is an ugly, violent noise at first(yeah, yeah-sound of freedom and all that). Even IF it does not cause hearing damage or dangerous exposure to lead, do you want your growing innocent life to experience this assault of sound?

olazul
 
I've seen a sign about pregnancy warnings
a couple of times.

I also saw some folks recommend a good
airpistol clone of your PDW to keep in
practice.
 
A friend of mine, continued shooting all the way through pregnacy. Mom shot IPSC style matches. They didn't know any better. I have to admit it is a giggle watching a woman in her 8th month "try" to run. :) After the birth they would bring the baby to the range well back off the line of course.
That little girl is the only baby I've ever seen that seemed to relax and go to sleep after the shooting STARTED.
No hearing problems at all that I know of. BTW this is an outdoor range.
 
Don't forget that the baby is in a fluid medium. Ever been under water and heard a watch alarm go off? Sound travels better in water than through air. When my wife is pregnant she doesn't shoot due both to possible auditory damage and the lead concerns. The lead concerns would also apply to any breastfeeding mothers. Anything that gets into you gets into your child. And lead is REALLY bad on developing children.
 
Well I just had to chime in for this. I have no idea about specifics on fetal devleopment. I am a guy -- and an 18 year old one at that. ;) But, I do know that sound is concussive waves. The only reason we "hear" them is that the ear drum transimits them to nerves and our brain "interprets" them as sound. But without those nerves or drum -- we are deaf. But the only thing that has changed then is *us*. The sound waves are the same. It is still a concussive energy. Thus we can feel it physically. It's like the bass in someones car stereo -- if it is loud enough, it will shake and rattle the panels, etc. And babies could be more sensitive (I believe they are) inside the womb then we are now. They could be able to hear, or they might not -- I don't know. But I do know for sure, that the sound of rifles and handguns firing is extremely energetic. The baby can certainly feel them (as long as their nerves are developed well enough). And it could be harmful.

From this, we now have three things that could be hazardous to a fetus at a range. 1) HEARD sound 2)FELT sound 3)airborne toxins such as lead

My opinion is that pregnant mommies should not be within a certain (I don't know how much) distance of the closest muzzle. Even more, there should be marks at the range of approximate, average decibels at distances. Like, 10 feet -- 100 dB, and so on. That way, the mother can better prepare to where to stand. The first shot to go off (be it a 33-378 braked Weatherby or a .22 plinker) will not the the deciding factor as where is a safe distance. Be safe out there moms!


Hueco

[This message has been edited by Hueco (edited March 23, 2000).]
 
Interesting thread. My wife and I wondered about that exact same thing when she was a couple months pregnant. Unfortunately, I don't have anything substantial to add, except that we decided to be safe than sorry and had her stop shooting completely.
 
I'd be worried about the lead & other toxins, so outdoor shooting seems like a reasonable precaution. & I guess when I get married, I'll be giving the wife siencers for a wedding gift (assuming that I can find a girl who's smart, attractive, liberal, extremely patient, AND a shooter).


[This message has been edited by Tony III (edited March 24, 2000).]
 
To the fetus sound isnt that big of a problem.

Lead would be a concern... But in a well ventalated or out door range - it's not a problem. If Mommy wants to go shoot once in awhile - its no big deal.
If Mom wants to live on the range - then while pregnate she may want to reconsider.
 
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