Is a loud concert bad for a pregnant woman?

The baby will let you know.
A friend's wife joined us at a Dead concert and the unborn started doing somersaults during a particularly loud bit, so Mom moved back a bit.

 

exactly , think about sound transmission through water, as well as the sonic impedance of the sound going from air to soft tissue to water and you get the picture. very little gets transmitted.

 

Actually there have been studies that showed that unborn babies prefer industrial music (I mean like Nurse With Wound or Coil or the Hafler Trio, not Ministry) so probably the kid won't be too into the Gallaghers.

Then again Manc is an industrial city...

 

ALL things are bad for pregnant women.


Keep out of their way and speak only when spoken to and you'll be OK.

 

My ex-wife was in a band that gigged regularly, so my now 9-year old daughter was subjected to loud music every weekend up until almost the very end of the pregnancy. She turned out fine and she LOVES music!

 

From the paper:

Niemtzow, Richard C. Loud Noise and Pregnancy. Obstetrical & Gynecological Survey. 48(9):596, September 1993.

"Because of the paucity of information on the effects of prenatal noise exposure, our knowledge is incomplete. It remains difficult to recommend any definitive medical guidelines for prenatal noise exposure beyond the protection of maternal hearing."

So even the experts don't know!

Tom

 

My wife and I went to see Patti Smith at the Roxy in '96 when my wife was 6 months pregnant with our eldest son. He is now 12 and already composes music, although I'm sure his interest in music is either genetic or comes from all the music he was exposed to after he was born. He doesn't particularly like or dislike Patti Smith. On the other hand, my youngest son did not go to a Patti Smith concert in utero and he professes to hate music, although that too may come from all the music he has been exposed to.

At that concert, the volume increased steadily until it got so loud that my wife felt she needed me to sit between her and the stage to shelter the baby. Not loud enough to leave, of course. Tom Verlaine was in the band for that tour.

Still, I concur that the best approach would be to ask your wife's doctor.

 

I took my pregnant wife to a Herbie Hancock concert in Detroit back in 2001 and it had some of the loudest moments I've ever experienced at a show. He's smart, well adjusted and likes to shake his booty to whatever style of music I happen to have on!

 

In fact it will never be known with 100% certainty as noone is going to do a correct clinical trial on the subject.

Obstetricians sure don't have any trouble putting near term mothers in an MRI scanner, a whole lot louder than a rock concert.

 

When my wife was seven months pregnant we went to see Van Morrison. Our as then unborn daughter danced along quite merrily. Now almost 18, she is a fan of Van the Man.

Best Wishes
David

 

My cousin, his wife (pregnant with their daughter), me and my wife went to a Def Leppard in the 80's. Everytime I see them, she (the daughter) keeps asking me to Pour Some Sugar on Me. Better be cafeful.

 

I didn't even think about that - I can sure vouch for how loud those things are, having had two MRIs, one on my head and one on my foot, and both times I came out of there with crushingly bad headaches, even with the earplugs they gave me to wear. VERY loud, much nastier than any concert I've ever attended.

 

We attended a Costello/Nieve show while my wife was 6 months pregnant with my youngest in 1998. 3rd row of a mid-size theater, right side of the stage near Costello's amp and a bank of speakers.

My wife said there were a couple of extra jumps that night, he was born healthy 3 months later, and has the best taste in music of all 4 kids (don't tell the other 3, though).

I hope she enjoys her night out!

 

Aside from the psychological damage of listening to such sub-par music, probably "no".

On the other hand, I have been front row at concerts so loud that I worried that I could feel the vibrations in my chest and body.

 

If my wife was six months pregnant, she wouldn't be going to ANY concerts.

 

I saw this show last night, and obviously every venue has a different sound. I found the music to be very loud, but in a very clean good way with everything defined , plenty of low end. It will be the same person running the sound at the upcomming show.

Inside the womb I can't imagine ANY negative affect.

I would imagine the stress of being bombed by a bunch of Nazi ******es would have more to do with the effects on children than the noise. There are plenty of studies that talk about stress and trauma on unborn children.

Clay

p.s By the way I was at this show to see Ryan Adams, and for the seat it was a great deal $30, but Oasis puts on a hell of a show, and have in fact written some great music in thier time. They played well and even did a nice Lennon tribute. All detractors can EABOD.

 

Loud Music Is Bad For Everybody...

 

I'm not a doctor, but I imagine it is not the best idea, as is not a good idea either to fly in the last few weeks of a pregnancy.

I remember reading a book a bunch of years ago where the author suggested that a pregnant woman should surround herself with a nice and relaxed environment full of beautiful things. He even mentioned having nice Greek statues to look at as well as beautiful classic art.

Fast forward to today: What sounded like a very peculiar suggestion seems to have been backed by recent neurologic sciences studies. Art and beauty tend to soothe the mind and ward off stress.

Stress, as you know, unchains a lot of different hormonal secretions, which in general are not of the good kind. How much these 'altered' states can affect the fetus I do not know.

Humans tend towards beauty not only because of its sexual cues, but because it relieves stresses. Perhaps this is why we have tend to think that physically beautiful people are happier, better persons, and live more successful lives than most mere mortals. Usually, these perceptions make them get better oportunities from the people who they come across making this neurologically wired prejudgement a self-fulfilling prophesy. This is the reason why studies made show that they tend to be more successful and make more money than average looking human beings.

I guess that what I want to say here is that it all depends on how much importance you give to keeping a relaxed and balanced lifestyle and what you deem to be stressful stimuli or not.

 

Are there any doctors here on the forum?

 

Yes, me the one you haven't been listening to. I'm a neuroradiologist and like I said earlier, I researched the topic and discussed it with my pediatrician two years ago. He's a Bowman Gray grad, who agreed there would be no harm, and indeed had his 7 month pregnant wife up front at a plenty loud Wilco show earlier this year. But run it past your pediatrician or obstetrician or his/her nurse if you want some more peace of mind.

While there are never going to be any clinical trials to fully prove the issue, there are no known links to any birth defects or other disorders that I have read. Most of my concern in this area stems from third trimester pregnant women and MRI exams as I mentioned previously. I have never heard of any ill effects to the fetus from pregnant women undergoing these exams and I have thoroughly researched the issue with regards to MRI. MRI is much louder than a concert but of shorter duration, less than an hour.

 

Woody. I was listening to you! You must understand my concern. I am glad to hear that there should be no problem.

This link made me paranoid :

http://www.pregnancy-info.net/QA/answers-Safe_to_go_to_a_concert_while_pregnant_/

 

If it was my kid I wouldnt risk it. But thats just me.

 

that's kind of a funny thread you linked, a bunch of pregnant Tool fans, but this one's turning into one to.

We had that "What to expect..." book and I don't remember reading the quote that the poster on there gives from the book but I don't doubt it's in there. I don't agree with it with regards to attending a concert unless you're going to be sitting right in front of a speaker and your belly is vibrating. Then there would be concern for energy deposition to the fetus but the sound levels in utero are not going to be of concern even at the loudest of shows. If the chair you're sitting in is vibrating then i'd be concerned but i don't see that happening at that show.

Problems with concerts are more due to overheating, standing too long, getting bumped by some drunk guy, having to pee every five minutes, etc. Like someone else said if the show is going to be a stressful occasion then it may be best to skip it, but if y'all can hang out, relax and enjoy a night out then I say go for it.

 

My wife is 6 months pregnant and we are going to quite a few concerts, did so with our first born as well and he turned out fine with a keen interest for music - its not exactly heavy metal concerts and I'm trying to keep her out of the mosh pit.

 

yeah all my empirical experience says letting the kid absorb some music in the womb makes him more musical

when we have ours in a year or so, I will be encouraging concert-going as well!