Can I go to a concert while I'm pregnant?
Okay, the biggest problem I am finding with this one is that most sites ask audiologist how damaging concerts can be. See, that's sort of like asking a dentist it brushing is important. Someone who specializes in hearing is going to be pretty partial to avoiding loud noises. I'm sure not all of them are hyper focused on silence but the ones that are writing for pregnancy sites sure are. A couple of them even started lending their opinion on the importance of stress hormones that music can supposedly release and providing the best environment for a developing baby. I'm thinking these guys should stick to ears and have a tall cool glass of shut the hell up.
As for the actual possibility of damaging your kid's hearing because you like thrash bands? Well, by 22 weeks, your baby's inner ear is fully formed but it's in amniotic fluid so everything is muffled. Sort of like when you're swimming underwater and can't quite hear someone screaming, "someone shit in the pool!"
Now as for prolonged and repeated exposure to very loud noise like a full shift in an industrial workplace where the sound level is more than 90 or 100 decibels (about the same as standing next to a chain saw or listening to me try to sing along to Heart in the car), this raises the chances of your baby suffering some hearing loss. It can also increase the risk of premature delivery and low-birth-weight – probably because the baby wants to get the hell out of there and hang somewhere quiet.
Anything over 150 or 155 decibels can cause similar problems for the baby, although your eardrums rupture around 160 decibels so you may have decided that it's best that you get off the aircraft carrier with the military jet take-off long before your baby's hearing is damaged.
Many of you have also asked me about firing guns. Of course I'm assuming that you're firing recklessly in the air screaming "yahoo" or killing someone as a hired assassin. Those being the two most likely scenarios.
Guns seem to be in 150 db range so they are pretty loud (no kidding, right?) so it's probably not wise to shoot them repeatedly and by repeatedly, I mean continuously for 8 hours everyday which isn't likely. So I'm sure you're fine – shotgun, handgun, paintball gun – because even though it's a loud noise, you'd have to subject your baby to it repeatedly to do damage. Just don't get shot.
As for concert going, it doesn't sound like you can do much damage to your child's hearing unless you're standing in front of a giant speaker deafening yourself. I said, IT DOESN'T SOUND LIKE YOU'LL DO MUCH DAMAGE UNLESS YOU STAND IN FRONT OF THE SPEAKER!! Oh, nevermind ; )
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Reader Comments (8)
I went to several concerts and one music festival while pregnant with my first. The only long term effects I have noticed is that the girl loves to dance. :)
I went to a couple concerts while pregnant with my second--about a month to three weeks before he was born. The only thing I noticed was that he danced around happily inside me. He's close to 2 now and ADORES music. I count this as an awesome thing and will gladly serve up a nice cool glass of shut the hell up.
So... the Glee concert was fine for me to go to then I take it
I am a lighting designer and designed concerts until I was too big to climb and lift. My daughter was in utero for Megadeth, Ani DiFranco, and everything in between! I also went to many concerts and shows throughout my pregnancy. She's now 15 months old and has the best rhythm of any kid I've ever seen!! No one can tell me that the noise had a negative effect because all I see are positive ones!!
My mom is a professional musician and she played right up until the week I was born. (And I was almost 3 weeks overdue!) No ill effects as far as I can tell, except for a strong liking for salsa music.
I play bagpipes and I'm currently 10 weeks pregnant with my second. The chanter (loudest part of the instrument) hangs down in front, right near my belly, and generates about 110 dB of sound. I play for between 3 - 4 hours a week.
I can't seem to find any authoritative website on playing bagpipes while preggers, but the consensus seems to be that either
a) I'll bear down too much and go into premature labor, or
b) I'll blow out the baby's eardrums.
Seems to me like 3 - 4 hours is no big deal, but what do you think? The premature labor thing just seems laughable to me, heh. I need a section up there between Artificial Sweeteners and Bouncy Castles for "Bagpipe Playing" - lol ;)
Hey Maddy, everything I read about anything over 90 decibels doing damage had to do with working in a factory everyday for 8 hours a day. The kind of place where YOU would have to wear earplugs to avoid hearing damage. So I'm going to guess that Scotland the Brave 3-4 hours a week isn't going to do much. Although, I'm assuming you're good at playing. Don't subject your poor baby to shitty bagpipe playing!
: )
I doubt that an hour at the shooting range would be that bad for baby's ears, since regular earplugs are all I wear there and I hear the stupid test-the-grownups'-hearing-high-pitched-sound-apps in my classroom (hand me the cell phone, please; you can have it back after class) -- but my gunloving dad and husband insist that the lead exposure from all the gunpowder is not ok. It's true that when we're done at the range, washing my hands allows me to see black streaming off my hands. What do you think? Are they right? I'm a better shot than they are even after a year of no practice ;), so I'm just asking out of curiosity.
Many thanks!