FENCING IN PREGNANCY AND POSTPARTUM
A Consensus Statement from British Fencing Medical Committee outlining guidance for fencing in pregnancy and postpartum.
“With very little specific research about fencing in pregnancy, the best advice is still to follow the general NHS guidelines on the topic.
Below is an excerpt from the NHS guidelines on sport in pregnancy:
Do not exhaust yourself. You may need to slow down as your pregnancy progresses or if your maternity team advises you to. If in doubt, consult your maternity team.
As a general rule, you should be able to hold a conversation as you exercise when pregnant. If you become breathless as you talk, then you’re probably exercising too strenuously.
If you were not active before you got pregnant, do not suddenly take up strenuous exercise. If you start an aerobic exercise programme (such as running, swimming, cycling or aerobics classes), tell the instructor that you’re pregnant.
Do not take part in contact sports where there’s a risk of being hit, such as kickboxing, judo or squash.
You may also want to read the UK Sport guidelines or the UK government guidelines on this topic.
However, if you want to continue some form of fencing for as long as possible, we suggest that you break your fencing activity into sparring and non-sparring activity as follows….”