Study suggests climbing into the third trimester did not raise reported pregnancy risks

A rope, a harness, and a pregnancy bump: for years, that combination has been treated as an automatic stop sign. A University of Alberta study now suggests that climbers who continued into the third trimester did not report worse pregnancy or fetal health outcomes than those who stopped by 27 weeks.

The researchers surveyed 692 participants around the world about climbing during pregnancy, falls, health outcomes for themselves and their babies, and their return to the sport afterward. Across nearly 64,000 hours of climbing, participants reported 155 “hard falls”, defined as a fall or catch hard enough to remember or cause concern.

The reported rate of adverse clinical events was 0.03 per 1,000 hours of exposure. All babies were born live, and the study found no significant difference in pregnancy or fetal health outcomes between the two groups. The lead author, University of Alberta professor Margie Davenport, said the findings challenge restrictions that were based on concern rather than direct research.

The result does not turn climbing during pregnancy into a universally safe activity. It comes from a cross-sectional survey, depends on self-reported experiences, and is described by the researchers as preliminary. The study measures what participants reported; it does not provide the kind of controlled clinical evidence that could settle the risks of every climbing environment or fall.

So what, concretely? The findings give pregnant climbers evidence to consider instead of relying only on a blanket assumption that climbing must stop. They also suggest that mental well-being belongs in that conversation: 96% of surveyed participants said they were happy or very happy that they continued climbing. The study opens a path beyond treating pregnancy and climbing as automatic opposites, without establishing that climbing is safe in every circumstance.