I’m 19 weeks pregnant and my two year old knocked over and broke a metal lamp. While trying to put the lamp back together, I touched the metal screw near where the wires attach to the part where the light bulb screws in. It gave me quite the shock- my arm felt tingly afterwards but I was otherwise okay. I’ve been worried sick about my baby although my OB says everything should be fine- we did an ultrasound a couple days later and listened to her heartbeat. But I’m still worried I damaged my baby- it was a metal lamp plugged into an ungrounded 2 prong outlet (probably original to my house that was built in 1948) and I was standing on a wood floor at the time. Both hands were on the lamp at the time of the shock. I assume it’s an 110V or 120V outlet. Any thoughts on how serious this shock is or where the current travelled through my body? Thank you in advance for sharing your expertise- I clearly don’t know much about electricity.

 

I'm not qualified to assess the potential damage to your baby, but I would be surprised if there was any. Others may have better information (though this is probably not a particularly good source to find expertise on something like this). But someone may have some good ideas about who to contact regarding electrical safety and impacts of fetuses. On a more practical note, in the future the first thing you should do is unplug the device before handling it and, if it is on a wall switch, shut that off first.

 

Your OB has said that everything looks ok.
The best thing you can do now is to try to get it out of your mind. Try and enjoy the journey and look forward to having your new baby.

 

Forget about the Electric-Shock, it will do no permanent damage to anything.

What "could" do permanent damage is Emotional-Instability, Stress, and Nutritional-Deficiencies.

You will need ...........
lots of Animal-Fats, ( ZERO-"SEED-OILS" ), READ-FOOD-LABELS carefully,
lots of Animal-Proteins, Organ-Meats are the most Nutritious, Sea-Food is great too,
ZERO-SUGAR, and extremely-low Carbohydrates of any type or description,
ZERO-Fruits, LOTS of Veggies, and Dark-Leafy-Greens,
Sour-Kraut will help immensely with Digestion and Regularity,
Apple-Cider-Vinegar will eliminate Indigestion,
use only "Sea-Salt", and use it generously,
and plenty of Vitamins, especially "D", Calcium+Magnesium+Zinc, Potassium, and Vitamin "K-2".

After You start this regimen, You will be ravenously hungry for at least ~3-days,
eat as much as You want, minus the Sugar and Carbs,
then, at least ~95% of your hunger will just "magically-disappear".
This is due to the "Sugar-Addiction" that virtually everyone currently has,
this addiction can also cause Diabetes, and aggravate many other aliments, and causes Inflammation.
If You "cheat", the temporary "hunger" will NOT go away,
and You will remain on the same old Roller-Coaster-Ride.

The occasional "Odd-Food-Cravings" of Pregnant-Women are
always caused by Vitamin or Mineral-Deficiencies.

Recommended Education ........ Dr. Eric Berg (YouTube Channel, he also has a Website).
.
.
.

 

The question would be where did the shock current flow through? If it did not flow from your hands thru your feet than it did not come near the baby. If it was from one hand to the other then it certainly did not flow near the baby or even that close to your heart. AND now you know why you shold always unplug any device before working on it.

 

I’ve been worried sick about my baby although my OB says everything should be fine- we did an ultrasound a couple days later and listened to her heartbeat.

Well I figure an OB-GYN is more qualified than myself or anyone here to make the call. Congratulations on your pregnancy and do not get all stressed out over this. Stress is likely going to create more problems for you than a shock. Run with what your doctor tells you.

Humorous side note. When my daughter was born about 41 years ago our OB-GYN actually had his BSEE (Electrical Engineering) degree. He figured there was more money in advancing his education than remaining a EE. He was right when I saw the bill.

Ron

 

Well I figure an OB-GYN is more qualified than myself or anyone here to make the call. Congratulations on your pregnancy and do not get all stressed out over this. Stress is likely going to create more problems for you than a shock. Run with what your doctor tells you.

Humorous side note. When my daughter was born about 41 years ago our OB-GYN actually had his BSEE (Electrical Engineering) degree. He figured there was more money in advancing his education than remaining a EE. He was right when I saw the bill.

Ron

A bunch of years ago, I discovered that the Dean of the LSU medical school at that time, had been studying to be an EE, but he quit and went into medicine because it was not as hard.
( I was employed there, I was not a student)

 

Welcome to AAC!

Any thoughts on how serious this shock is or where the current travelled through my body?

If it wasn't sufficient to cause you injuries, your baby is probably okay. Unless you touched neutral with one hand and hot with the other, the current probably went through your arm and leg.

I'm not sure how qualified an OB is to diagnose injury from electric shock...

I clearly don’t know much about electricity.

Always disconnect devices from power before you work on them.

 

Does the skin effect not apply to the human body as a conductor?

 

The current only passed between fingers. If you used two hands and it went thru your body, some would be shared by your heart and that might have been more stressful to you than the fetus.

 

To chime in and say what others have already said, if you were shocked from finger to finger then absolutely no harm was caused to the child. IF it passed from one hand to the other - you said your arm (singular, not "arms") - but if it passed from one hand to the other then there would have been a potential chance the current could have flown through your chest. Not likely to have gone through your stomach or womb. IF it passed from hand to foot then the pathway would most likely be along your spinal column and again, not through the child. The only way I can see any potential harm would be if you took the shock from your stomach left side to your stomach right side. Otherwise there doesn't appear to be any pathway for the child to have been harmed.

Here's the thing about electrical shock: It causes muscles to contract. Once the current stops flowing the muscles relax. There may be a bit of soreness but that will pass. It's like overworking a muscle to the point of fatigue. You're sore afterwords but then in time your muscle recovers.

The baby? As you OBGYN has said, "everything should be fine." The word "Should be" is his (or her) way of saying nobody can know for certain. Certainly none of use here are qualified to say so. Nevertheless, being a veteran of many shocking's from 120VAC from finger to finger, from hand to hand and from hand to foot - I'm just fine. I think your child will be just fine as well. Stop worrying. It was a momentary thing. It didn't destroy any cells in your body nor did it cause any harm to any of the cells in your baby's body. Of that I'm confident. Not "Certain" but confident.

Now, take a deep breath and tell yourself everything is just fine.

And finally, welcome to AAC. If you ever have any questions about electronics or electricity feel free to ask. Don't feel shame for not knowing anything about the subject. We all learn from a place where before we knew nothing about the subject.

 

The TS stated she was standing on a wood floor, which at mains voltages is an adequate insulator. Thus the shock was either within one arm or arm to arm, which can be quite uncomfortable indeed. But it missed the baby area by at least a foot, at least for a normal person with arms attached to shoulder level locations.
Consider now the very useful lesson about unplugging electrical things before working on them..