Marion Rice started writing the Family Biking column for BikePortland in 2008. Most recently she was the Co-Executive Producer of a web site for parents to help them support their children’s emergent literacy from birth to age 5. She has been the Executive Producer of a number of web sites for PBS.org including The PBS Parents Guide To Talking With Kids About War and Violence, History Detectives and The New Heroes. Marion Rice has been producing educational media since 1993. To contact Marion Rice, and to read her previous articles, click here. In the meantime, if you have any words of wisdom, experiences you want to share or words of encouragement for women who are biking while pregnant, please chime in below. I’ll check in with Angela again in a couple of months and report on how she’s doing. For Angela, being carfree is an expression of her ethos and an important part of her life but it doesn’t mean that she is going to bike everywhere all the time. She’s making sure she eats enough calories and protein and listens to her body. Her belly is starting to get bigger, and she’s already thinking about switching to a more upright bike. She also did not have a drivers license so this was her mode of transportation and she did just fine.”Īngela is now in the middle of her second trimester. Edelman shared the story of a nurse in her office that biked until she was 38 weeks: “She was an experienced biker and felt confident in her choice to continue riding. “The thought of having a child for whom my decision impacted their survival and long term health wasn’t justifiable to me.”īut everyone has a right to decide on what feels comfortable to them. Be sure to listen to your body and give yourself permission to get a ride or take the bus.Īfter 24 weeks, Edelman cites statistics showing that less than 25% of children born that early do well. You become short of breath more quickly and usually have less capacity for moderate to higher levels of exercise. In the second and third trimester, your balance may be challenged and your back may be sore. How do you feel?- The first trimester can make you seriously tired and/ or nauseous.What’s the weather and the road conditions?- Are there leaves on the road, gravel on the streets or snow and ice? Could you choose a bike option that is safer in those conditions?.switch over to regular pedals instead of clipless. Also think about making your bike safer for you – e.g. How safe is your bike commute? -Does your commute allow you to use bike lanes and low traffic volume streets or does it require you to ride close to traffic? Make adjustments in your route to reduce your chances for trauma.Forms of moderate exercise usually help improve the health of a pregnancy, but some women may be limited due to issues that may cause them to have a “high” risk pregnancy Discuss how safe biking is for you with your doctor.Edelman suggests looking at these four things:
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