Cycling with contractions — would you ride your bike to the hospital while in labor?

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#Offbeat Families in the media#grown ups#pregnancy
Photo from Copenhagenize.

You know what I LOVE? I love riding my bike. You know what else I love? Babies. I think pregnancy is cool, labor & delivery is amazing (and painful), and getting a crazy red-faced screaming tiny person at the end of it is a pretty amazing thing that mammals do. In fact, the whole raising-a-kid thing kind blows my mind, and I’m two-and-a-half years into it.

You wanna know what else blows my mind? Women in Denmark regularly bike to the hospital, in the middle of contractions.

Uh-huh. IT’S TRUE.

John and Lina are a Canadian couple (from Montreal) who are living in Copenhagen. They let Copenhagenize blog the photos John took of Lina biking on the way to the hospital. They note that the hospital is only 1.5km away (.93 miles), but the idea of biking one mile on a regular day is enough to do some people in. Hopping on your bike and pausing only to endure a particularly rough contraction? Dedication.

I absolutely think this is incredible and awesome. It trips my little car-dependent American brain out (I did take the bus to the hospital when I was in labor, but feeling uncomfortable when sharp turns and contractions met up at the same time is nothing compared to this), and I like it. You can see the entire article (with photos) here.

What do you think: would you be able to ride a bike while you were having contractions?

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Comments on Cycling with contractions — would you ride your bike to the hospital while in labor?

  1. Interesting!
    This would probably only be safe in countries like Denmark where there are less cars on the road (I often find bike riding on our busy roads hairy enough when I’m not in labour!) BUT I bet that kind of cycling exercise would be great for getting baby into a good position and progressing labour.
    Any midwives want to weigh in?

  2. And I thought I was a bad-ass when I fell off my bike on my way to work, broke and dislocated my arm, and pushed the bike home while fighting off shock.

    (Granted, I was only 4 – 5 blocks away and my husband was still home and could drive me to the ER, but I wasn’t going call 911 and risk leaving my ride behind — I LOVE that bike!)

    But bicycling through contractions? That is some hardcore Dothraki sh*t, right there.

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