Safety always comes first, and laser tag is no exception. Any fall or injury for a pregnant woman is a lot more serious than it would be for someone who isn’t pregnant.
So, can you play laser tag while pregnant? Well, the short answer is no.
Here are a few reasons why you should avoid this strenuous physical activity during those special nine months.
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Risk of Falling
Laser tag involves a lot of running. In fact, you probably won’t be able to enjoy the game that much if you don’t run.
While some may argue that you shouldn’t run in laser tag, the reality is that players are trying to move as quickly and quietly as possible through the course as they can. This means the risk of falling is relatively high — especially if your center of balance is already off because you’re pregnant and you’ve got several extra pounds in the form of a child in your body.
A lot of laser tag areas are blacklight, which increases the risk of falling or injury. You could also run into a wall by accident.
Playing laser tag in the dark is exciting, and not being fully aware of all your surroundings is part of the fun, but it wouldn’t be very fun anymore if someone got hurt.
Just to be clear: anyone is at risk of falling or hurting themselves while playing laser tag. It’s just particularly dangerous for pregnant women.
Falling on your bottom would probably not be very harmful, but landing on your abdomen would be. This is why many laser tag establishments won’t let pregnant women play their games, it’s simply not worth the risk of getting sued or having a serious medical emergency on their hands.
Of course, if you’re pregnant and feel completely comfortable, in control of your body, and really want to play laser tag, you can. It’s your body and you know its limits, especially if you’ve played laser tag before and are familiar with how it makes you feel.
However, do be mindful of overheating and staying hydrated!
Laser Exposure
The word ‘laser’ can be quite daunting. Is it dangerous at all?
Don’t worry, these aren’t the same lasers villains use in movies. Laser guns shoot invisible infrared LED beams, which are not dangerous in any way, whether you’re pregnant or not.
Here are a few other machines that use infrared LED lights that you probably come in contact with all the time:
- Touch screens
- CCTV
- Gesture recognition (think of using a Wii console)
- Biometrics (like fingerprint scanning)
- Traffic control
- Number plate recognition
- Remote control
You see? Infrared LED lights are everywhere, so that shouldn’t be a concern. The red light beaming out of laser tag guns is just a visual to add to the fun of playing the game, but it doesn’t make it any less safe!
On the other hand, stronger lasers, like the ones used for hair removal or skin treatment, have not been studied on women. Unfortunately, no safety studies have been done to monitor the effects of these harsher lasers on women yet.
This is just good to keep in mind, but has no correlation with laser tag lasers.
What other activities should be avoided during pregnancy?
We’ve gone over laser tag, but what about other similar sports?
Paintball
Paintball and laser tag have a lot in common when it comes to how much movement is involved to play them. But laser tag just shoots harmless infrared lasers, while paintball pellets are painful and dangerous.
The risk of injury while playing paintball is significantly higher and it is never recommended that pregnant women take part in paintball games. In fact, it would be a red flag if a paintball establishment let a pregnant woman play.
Getting hit in the belly in paintball is very painful, regardless of if you’re carrying. So the adding risk of having the fetus take that blow is simply too dangerous.
Falling on your stomach is incredibly unsafe when pregnant, and being struck by a hard round paintball speeding towards you is arguably more painful and harmful.
But do not fear! Once that baby’s out of there you can get back on the paintball field!
Airsoft
Generally, if the game involves shooting physical pellets at each other, it’s probably not safe to play while pregnant.
Getting hit in paintball will probably hurt more than getting hit with an airsoft pellet, so at first glance, airsoft might seem like the safer option.
In reality, if struck at the right angle, airsoft pellets can actually break the skin. Because of how potentially dangerous it is, airsoft is illegal in Australia, so Australians have to travel to New Zealand to play it.
Baseball & Other Ball Games
The risks associated with falling are just too high. While it may sound lame to have to sit so many things out, even traditional sports like baseball and basketball should be avoided for those nine months.
The running and potentially jumping required to play many sports could result in a nasty fall that would definitely not be worth it!
So What Can You Do?
Fear not! There are still many activities you can enjoy while pregnant.
Here are a few examples:
- Swimming: Let the water take your heavy bump off your back and enjoy floating weightlessly!
- Walking: There’s nothing wrong with a good long walk. Just make sure you’re hydrated!
- Spinning: Using an indoor bike is perfectly safe and a great way to stay healthy during your pregnancy.
- Yoga: Talk to your yoga instructor to take a prenatal yoga class to make sure that all of the moves are safe for you. Other than that, you’re good to go!
- Strength training: Strong muscles are awesome, especially if you’re pregnant! Low-impact strength training is a great way to feel like the powerful woman you are!
- Aerobics classes: Make sure they are low-impact and enjoy!
It’s Only Temporary
These may sound like a lot of do’s and don’ts — and let’s face it, they are mainly don’ts — but rest-assured, you can only be pregnant for so long. Taking the time to play it safe will be well worth avoiding any complications and ending up with a happy healthy baby.
Who knows, they might end up being a laser tag fiend like you are!