A weird question from a co-worker

OK So I promised her I would ask and forgot to ask the OB last week. We work in a very staticy environment and almost every time you touch metal you get a shock. Well my belly gets shocked if I lean on the table. Her question - Since the baby is surrounded by fluid and fluid is a conductor - does the baby get shocked too?

LOL I told you it was out there! 

Haha!! I wonder if anyone out there will know the answer to this question!?

-Ashlie

haha I wonder that too... my daughter is all over the place and with the rug in the living room everytime she touches me I get shocked... it's funny but I wonder if someone has the answer...lol

That is "out there" !  The things our minds think/worry about!

My gut reaction was to say that if those shocks you receive would be harmful to the baby they would have probably damaged your other organs by now.  So I am guessing they are harmless.  Your skin/tissue/fat I'm sure act as an insulator.

BUT just out of curiousity I googled it.  I am at work and only have a few minutes --- but I found this one (unscientific) question/answer about a pregnant woman being shocked by a non-grounded appliance -- presumably a larger shock than static.

And the non-scientific answer was "For the shock to harm the fetus it would have first killed the mother"

I am assuming then, the baby is well protected and mother-nature has already thought about static electricity! 

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_Electrical_Shock_from_a_househ old_appliance_such_as_a_dvd_player_that_is_not_grounded_caus e_harm_to_a_baby_during_pregnancy

Cindy

LOL Thanks Cindy! It is amazing what people come up with! I never even gave it a thought. Maybe we aren't busy enough! lol

to funny.. i had a guy i work with tell me he wanted to hug me so hard i would have glitter shoot out of my bum.... i now call him gb ... for glitter bum

lol! people come up with the strangest things!

Static shocks are so weak, they don't penetrate very far into your tissues, I doubt your baby feels a thing.

*giggle* Glad to know it's gonna be ok. I never would have thought about it but I get shocked all th time from the hubby. We joke that we still have sparks after 6 years.