My wife and I have had discussions about this in the past, considering her being pregnant for pretty much five continuous years. Will it hurt the baby?
The only thing I thought about as far as being harmful to the baby was the noise. Unborn babies can hear voices (no, not the creepy kind!), such as the mother and father's, and can also hear music and stuff. No doubt the noisy blast from a firearm can cause damage, or at the very least scare the poor kid. For those reasons, my wife hasn't fired a gun in years (it breaks her heart. . .(not really)).
I didn't even think about any of the other things that might be harmful. With that information especially, my advice is to not do it. I found that article on ARFCOM from this thread on the subject.
And knowing is half the battle. . . . (that brings you back, doesn't it?)
7 comments:
the interwebs say that hearing develops around 16 weeks so i'd guess that anything past that is a bad idea.
pregnant women and guns don't mix?
my common sense is tingling!
besides, you don't want the poor like guy or gal coming out and having 'nam like flashbacks every 4th of july.
"Let me tell you something ass-eyes, let me tell you ALL something: war has made me very PARANOID! and when you get to eye-balling me, makes my Agent Orange act up, makes me want to KILL!
" -- Major Paine
Don't want your baby coming out with the 1,000 yard stare!
That taste after shooting at an indoor range isn't so much lead but powder and other particles. But yes, there is likely some lead. That's why everybody should wash their hands afterward.
But for pregnant women, the big concern is the noise.
something I didn't see mentioned is pressure. I wonder if that is a problem too? Sound is just waves of pressure- and fluid doesn't compress. I wonder if the concussion could, in ways not related to hearing- give the baby issues.
I know tinnitus has a correlation to memory issues- and one suspected cause is that people with later life onset of hearing loss often also receive damage to a part of the brain where neurons are created. There are very limited places where this happens after development / maturity ceases.
It hasn't been proven yet- but it is a suspected relationship. Apparently a lot of tankers have memory problems not associated with PTSD but who have experienced some levels of hearing loss.
who knows.
"I know tinnitus has a correlation to memory issues"
Never heard of that; not that I'm doubting. My left ear is still ringing now over a week later; and sometimes at complete random it starts to ring much harder -- maybe that's why.
I have an acquaintance who is a neuroscience PhD- he does mental mapping in animals and I guess the relationship exists in mice and they think it is the same for people- but the research is still ongoing.
Makes me feel shitty about the stuff I do (not nearly as awesome or sciency) but such is life.
Post a Comment