Is a mini-trampoline safe during pregnancy?

What does the evidence say about rebounder and mini-trampoline exercise during pregnancy?

1. General guidance on staying active safely during pregnancy specifically advises against jerky, bouncing movements because of increased connective tissue flexibility during pregnancy, which describes the core motion involved in using a rebounder or mini-trampoline. 1
2. The same guidance explains that as a pregnancy progresses, a shifting center of gravity makes a person more prone to falls, and it separately lists activities such as horseback riding, downhill skiing, and gymnastics, all of which demand balance on an unstable or unpredictable surface, as ones to steer clear of for that reason. 1
3. A MotherToBaby fact sheet gives the same category of activities to avoid, noting that the chance of falling during activities such as gymnastics, horseback riding, jet skiing, water skiing, surfing, and downhill skiing may be higher during pregnancy because of changes in balance. 2
4. That same fact sheet explains that joints become looser during pregnancy because of hormonal changes, and that looser joints bring a higher chance of strains or sprains during otherwise routine movements and exercise, which is directly relevant to the repetitive bouncing impact of rebounder use. 2
5. A review comparing international pregnancy exercise guidelines found that they consistently ruled out sports carrying a risk of falls, trauma, or collisions, and separately cautioned against high-impact activity in general, showing that fall-risk and impact-level concerns are shared themes across countries' guidance rather than one source's individual opinion. 3
6. The actual research on relaxin, the hormone commonly blamed for pregnancy-related joint laxity, is mixed: some studies found higher relaxin levels linked to joint laxity or pelvic joint instability, while other studies found no significant association, so the joint-laxity mechanism itself is not fully settled even though patient guidance uses it as a rationale for caution. 4
7. Outside of pregnancy specifically, a prospective study of elite female athletes found that those with higher serum relaxin levels had an increased risk of ACL tears compared with those with lower levels, a clearer separate signal that this hormone can matter for joint injury risk even where the pregnancy-specific balance connection remains debated. 4

Is rebounder and mini-trampoline exercise safe in each trimester?

• First trimester. Early on, before the belly has grown much, fall-risk guidance may feel less urgent, but the caution around jerky, bouncing movements and loosened connective tissue is described as a pregnancy-wide concern rather than one that starts only later.
• Second trimester. As pregnancy becomes visibly further along, the shift in center of gravity that guidance names as a reason people become more fall-prone continues to build, on top of the ongoing concern about repetitive bouncing motion.
• Third trimester. By the third trimester, the combination of a larger, less predictable center of gravity and continued joint changes is when general pregnancy exercise guidance is most consistent about avoiding fall-risk and high-impact activities altogether.

Why general guidance points to caution for rebounder or mini-trampoline use