SCUBA DIVING AND FETAL WELL-BEING - A SURVEY OF 208 WOMEN

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  • 1 January 1980
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 7  (3) , 183-189
Abstract
Scuba diving is an increasingly popular sport among women of childbearing age. It causes physiological changes that are possibly lethal or teratogenic to the fetus. Diving during pregnancy is seldom mentioned in diving courses and few obstetricians are familiar with the physiology of diving. Questionnaires were given for description and comparison of the extent of diving and obstetric and fetal outcome of 208 women divers; 136 dived during 1 or more pregnancies. The average depth these women dived was 42.6 ft; 24 women reported dives deeper than 99 ft during the 1st trimester. The prevalence of 6 specific fetal complications was analyzed. The frequency of birth defects was significantly greater among children from pregnancies during which women dived (P < 0.05) but was within the range for the general population.

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