by E. C. Owens

Created on: November 19, 2008   Last Updated: January 20, 2009

Imagine with me for a moment if you would, that you are placed into a giant plastic bubble. Before you are placed into that giant bubble, you are geared up from head to toe in a wet suit. Along with that wet suit, instead of receiving a breathing tank, a tube that is hooked to the side of the plastic bubble on one end, and the other end has a mouth cuff that fits you perfectly. The purpose of the tube is so that you can draw in oxygen from the outside of the bubble. The plastic bubble is then filled completely with water while you are still in it. As long as you keep breathing through your breathing tube, you will be fine. Once you are surrounded by water, you, while still in the plastic bubble, are placed on a roller-coaster. I would imagine, since you have nothing to hold on to, it would be a crazy and hectic ride for you. You would be swishing to the side, swaying frontwards and backwards, and when those loops in the track came up, I would imagine that you would be doing summer-salts.

All the while that you are swishing and swashing around in that giant plastic bubble, do you think that breathing tube is going to remain out of your way at all times? Absolutely not. I bet, by the time your crazy ride is over, your breathing tube has somehow found it's way, wrapped around your neck.

Often times people make the assumption that if they are held securely to the seat of that roller-coaster, then their unborn child is fine. Wrong. What are you thinking -that there are 'oh, crap' handles inside your womb? That the baby would just grab one and hold on for dear life? I find it hard to remain still while floating around in a bubble of fluid, and nothing to hold you into place.

Here is another good reason not to ride a roller-coaster while pregnant. Go to your refrigerator and take out an egg. Once you have that egg, shake it up really good. Can you feel that yolk and egg whites moving? Imagine that the yolk is your baby, the egg whites are the amniotic fluid, and the shell is your womb. If babies can die within the first year to two years of life from shaken baby syndrome, would it not be fair to say that your baby when in the womb, if shook could receive similar damage?

It is never okay to shake a baby, unborn or otherwise. If you feel at any time that your babies health maybe in jeopardy due to something that you have done or might do, always be safe and ask your doctor. It is always better for both baby and mommy if the proper precautions are taken to ensure that the unborn child is safe.

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