Diving while trying to get pregnant?

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This thread could not have come at a better time. My wife just started clomiphene yesterday and we were discussing whether or not "diving while trying" was a good idea.

After reading the responses and the info provided, she's decided (and I'm grateful she did) that she won't be diving. Thank you to everyone who responded and to tomsuelaw for being willing to discuss this in an open forum.
 
Here's a thought... why not just have one last blow-out before getting pregnant because after that it may be a very, very long time before you get to dive again. Also, going on a relaxing vacation and de-stressing may have the added benefit of allowing your body and mind to be more receptive to fertilization.
I'm not a doctor, just a mom who doesn't get to dive nearly as often as I'd like.

Yah, I know what you are saying. I actually already have a 16month old, which is why we only get to dive once a year as it is. However, the situation is a lil more complicated then that (both medically/physically and emotionally). But thanks for your input :)
 
Even without the maternal blood flow, the changes in pressure and microbubbles COULD have a impact on the zygote. I haven't read any of the articles on pregnancy (my specialty is adult critical care nursing), but it would sure make sense that there could be an impact and if fertility has been a issue, if it was my wife, I would recomend not diving. I have been doing the medical thing long enough to know we just don't know so many times. I would recomend not diving if you think you might be pregnant and if you want to dive waiting until after the trip to try and get pregnant. Just my humble opinion.
 
Even without the maternal blood flow, the changes in pressure and microbubbles COULD have a impact on the zygote. I haven't read any of the articles on pregnancy (my specialty is adult critical care nursing), but it would sure make sense that there could be an impact and if fertility has been a issue, if it was my wife, I would recomend not diving. I have been doing the medical thing long enough to know we just don't know so many times. I would recomend not diving if you think you might be pregnant and if you want to dive waiting until after the trip to try and get pregnant. Just my humble opinion.

I appreciate your opinion and concerns. One question though: Any theories on why pressures and microbubbles would effect a fertilized egg vs the million of fertilized eggs sitting in my ovaries? Or what about sperm? Why wouldn't it have negative effects on other non-fertilized genetic material as well?
 
I'm going to take a stab and say because sperm and eggs arent necessarily perfused or containing capillary beds, and they arent in blood... hmmm? Doctors?
 
It's actually quite a good question, and I'm not sure anybody has any answer to it.

We talk extensively about nitrogen bubbles in blood, and the damage they do or may do when carried to various places. Obviously, nitrogen also transfers across cell membranes and into cytoplasm, and has the possibility to bubble there as well. I don't know where seed nuclei are posited to be created or to exist, but I know that motion has been implicated in their formation. Since there is little or no motion within an individual cell, perhaps they don't form there?

As far as damage done to a fertilized egg, as opposed to unfertilized ova sitting in the ovaries, one could certainly offer the explanation that a fertilized ovum is one of the most metabolically and reproductively active cell masses in the body -- and every cell division is an invitation for DNA copy error (which is, of course, one of the reasons teratogens are so effective early in pregnancy).

The bottom line is that we don't know, and there is almost certainly no imperative or funding for investigating this further, since the solution of avoiding diving while pregnant or trying to become pregnant is a simple one.

I did not mean to be judgmental, but a one month delay to allow you to enjoy your trip did not seem unreasonable to me (but it may to you) and would avoid all the questions.
 
<not a Dr., just curious>

If diving is dangerous for a fertilized egg, what about an unfertilized egg or a man's sperm?
 
<not a Dr., just curious>

If diving is dangerous for a fertilized egg, what about an unfertilized egg or a man's sperm?

I can find no studies which have shown decreased fertility or increased fetal abnormalities in subjects with a history of diving prior to conception.
 
Not going to read the entire thread so this may have been covered. Diving while trying to get pregnant may have another issue associated with it. If the man's scrotum is pulled close to the body due to cold water and the sperm get overheated, they may not be viable.
 
Not going to read the entire thread so this may have been covered. Diving while trying to get pregnant may have another issue associated with it. If the man's scrotum is pulled close to the body due to cold water and the sperm get overheated, they may not be viable.

Yeah, you should probably at least wait til you're back on the boat.
:rofl3:
Sorry...
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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