Long haul travel at 22 weeks

Sebastian Dangerfield

My wife and I have just found out we are expecting our first baby. We only got married in September and had planned to start trying straight away. With all of our friends in the same boat telling us how it's taking them a few months or longer, we went ahead and booked a trip to South Africa at the end of February / start of March for a friends wedding. We assumed that like the rest, it would take a bit of time.

We were delighted to recently find out that she is pregnant, but thoughts now turn to the practicalities of the trip. We have paid for it, and were obviously looking forward to it. My wife is open minded about whether she can still go based on some basic internet research, but Im inclined to err on the side of caution. If theres any chance at all the trip could harm the baby, or my wife, its a no brainer in my mind. The thought that the flight, sun or anything else could leave her stuck in an African hospital unable to get back sounds too much of a risk to me.

We will seek a doctors advise, but even if they say its ok, I think my side of the argument is made up that she should not go. It's my friend who she has only met once, so I'd shorten my trip to 3 days, in and out for the ceremony.

Am I being over the top, or can share similar experiences?

Mods disclaimer: Not looking for medical advise

Little Miss Cutie

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

Am I being over the top, or can share similar experiences?

Mods disclaimer: Not looking for medical advise

Firstly congrats!!! Such an exciting time for you both!!

Secondly I can only offer advice based on my experience. I ended up in hospital multiple times from 9-12 weeks, was due to fly to London for the weekend at 11 weeks and was advised against it. The doctor also wrote it in my file. From what she explained, if I went on any flights during pregnancy after I had been advised not to then my insurance company were unlikely to cover me.

All the being said, yes I was disappointed to miss that trip and a trip to the states but now at 30wks pregnant for me it wouldn't have been worth it as I have been in and out of hospital countless times

Then again your wife would have a very straightforward pregnancy and none of it would be an issue!

January

My advice would be to speak to your doctor. I know you're not looking for medical advice but ultimately, your travel insurance will depend on whether or not your doctor thinks your wife is fit to fly that long a distance.

At 22 weeks it shouldn't be too much of a problem, in fact, it's actually cited as the safest time to fly usually. She'd need to wear compression stockings etc on the flight and make sure she walks around and keeps hydrated.

spottybananas

The sun and flight wouldn't pose any risk at all for a normal pregnancy. I would say wait and see how she feels and how the pregnancy progresses and decide as late as she can. I flew 4.5hrs away at 18 weeks for a week with a friend, beautiful sunny weather, lots of bag schlepping, walking, sightseeing, eating out, it was brilliant As mentioned it's the best time in your average pregnancy, I was mostly past exhaustion and nausea but not yet uncomfortable and exhausted again!

wuffly

Agree with others best to check with your dr. A friend of mine did a holiday in SA at around 20 weeks no issues what so ever but everyone is different. I've done a good bit of flying in my first 12 weeks and my dr had no issues.

bp

I flew to the states solo at 18 weeks, not a bother.

But that was a great pregnancy, see how she goes and talk to the doctors

Penny Dreadful

I flew quite a bit on my first pregnancy. We went to Sweden, Spain, Belgium and the UK. Our thinking was that it was much easier to do all of those holiday things before the baby arrived than it would be after.
My pregnancy was fine and straight foward. The trip to Spain was actually a sailing holiday with friends around the Balearic Islands- granted I did the cooking and no heavy lifting as far as the sailing went. I was 24 weeks pregnant then.

The sun was lovely and relaxing and in no way harmful to our baby or dangerous to the pregnancy at all. My only concern would relate to any vaccines she may possibly need.
Best thing to do is for your wife to discuss this with her obstetrician.

Neyite

What I would say as well as getting a GP opinion, is get the best travel insurance that you can - pay close attention to what it covers you for during pregnancy and make sure it covers her (eg. private hospital treatment or stay), yourself (living expenses etc) and should there be an emergency involving the baby, that treatment in a private hospital and repatriation of the family home afterwards. Pore over the document.

Hopefully you'll never need it but its €100 or so well spent if you ever do, because long overseas hospital treatment and repatriation can cost hundreds of thousands of Euro.

Many women sail through pregnancy, so your wife might be absolutely fine to enjoy her holiday.

Sebastian Dangerfield

Neyite wrote: »

What I would say as well as getting a GP opinion, is get the best travel insurance that you can - pay close attention to what it covers you for during pregnancy and make sure it covers her (eg. private hospital treatment or stay), yourself (living expenses etc) and should there be an emergency involving the baby, that treatment in a private hospital and repatriation of the family home afterwards. Pore over the document.

Hopefully you'll never need it but its €100 or so well spent if you ever do, because long overseas hospital treatment and repatriation can cost hundreds of thousands of Euro.

Many women sail through pregnancy, so your wife might be absolutely fine to enjoy her holiday.

Thanks for the suggestion. Perhaps a stupid question, but can you get cover like that when you already know youre pregnant? I thought it would have to be something already in your plan pre-pregnancy - like getting dental insurance after youve been told you need an implant

irishgirl19

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote:

Thanks for the suggestion. Perhaps a stupid question, but can you get cover like that when you already know youre pregnant? I thought it would have to be something already in your plan pre-pregnancy - like getting dental insurance after youve been told you need an implant

Yes you can. Most insurance companies only cover you up to a certain point in pregnancy though. 22 weeks would be fine.
Flying-wise,The advice I got from my OB was with a healthy pregnancy, once I kept hydrated, wore compression socks and walked around as much as I can, it was fine.
I flew once during pregnancy when I was 12/13 weeks. I had a holiday booked at 22 weeks and I ended up in hospital so that one got canceled last minute so they advice I got then was not to travel(but only because a problem came up)
I would check what the story is with vaccines though.
And also be wary of foods when you guys are eating out. Listeria can be dangerous in pregnancy.

And congratulations , enjoy this exciting time :-)

IvyTheTerrible

Penny Dreadful wrote: »

I flew quite a bit on my first pregnancy. We went to Sweden, Spain, Belgium and the UK. Our thinking was that it was much easier to do all of those holiday things before the baby arrived than it would be after.
My pregnancy was fine and straight foward. The trip to Spain was actually a sailing holiday with friends around the Balearic Islands- granted I did the cooking and no heavy lifting as far as the sailing went. I was 24 weeks pregnant then.

The sun was lovely and relaxing and in no way harmful to our baby or dangerous to the pregnancy at all. My only concern would relate to any vaccines she may possibly need.
Best thing to do is for your wife to discuss this with her obstetrician.

Just with regard to the sun in pregnancy, pregnant women have to be careful to use sun block, hats etc or they could get sun spots on their faces which don't always disappear after the baby is born.

Penny Dreadful

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

Just with regard to the sun in pregnancy, pregnant women have to be careful to use sun block, hats etc or they could get sun spots on their faces which don't always disappear after the baby is born.

You're right of course, but I meant that the sun wouldn't have any harmful effect on the baby.

IvyTheTerrible

Penny Dreadful wrote: »

You're right of course, but I meant that the sun wouldn't have any harmful effect on the baby.

Of course! In fact, I'd imagine the relaxing effect on the mum is good for the baby!

Neyite

Sebastian Dangerfield wrote: »

Thanks for the suggestion. Perhaps a stupid question, but can you get cover like that when you already know youre pregnant? I thought it would have to be something already in your plan pre-pregnancy - like getting dental insurance after youve been told you need an implant

No, it's covered. . Standard pregnancy is covered as it usually requires no medical intervention until delivery. But, if your wife has an existing medical issue that might make a pregnancy more tricky or need closer monitoring (eg. thyroid issues, diabetes etc) or if there is a risk of early delivery then you would need to declare these as you would any other pre-exisiting condition. They ask you a series of questions when you buy the policy to assess it.

When you declare pre-existing conditions, insurers assess the risk, and depending on the severity of the condition & risk will either cover it free of charge on your policy (low risk) cover it with a loading (where you pay a small amount extra to cover the condition), or exclude it (cover you for everything but that condition or complications arising from that condition) So, for example, Parkinsons might be low risk as its a medical condition that is managed by GP visits etc but rarely requires hospital treatment, epilepsy might be a higher risk so they might add a loading, but cancer would be high risk and depending on a persons remission status might be excluded altogether. So that person would still be covered for, say a heart issue or injuries, but nothing cancer related, if you get me.

Just ensure that you are covered for the duration of the trip too. Here is a good starting point of what you might need to look out for. I see a mention there of Enhanced Pregnancy cover, and for the few quid it might cost, might be worth it for long haul for you. If you have Health insurance they usually have an element of cover for treatment abroad so check that policy fine print too.

This case gives you an idea of what kind of costs you'd be looking at if under insured. Bear in mind, though that this woman was an idiot travelled knowing it was a high risk pregnancy and very likely against her GP /Midwife/ OBGYN advice, and without checking their travel policy.

Hospitals love to see tourists coming because they can bill big bucks to insurers. Depending on the country it's not uncommon for them to schedule all sorts of expensive tests that may not be necessary to make a few extra quid. So, if in the event anyone needs to attend a hospital or doctor for any medical issue when abroad, insurers should be the second call you make after the doctor /ambulance. If you don't, they can decline (as per the small print) to pay for any procedures that they didn't authorise that the hospital might have already ran. I worked in this area and it was common in the panic of a hospital admission /dealing with language barriers etc that it only occurred to the patient or partner several days later to call the insurer. One case like that, a patient somewhere in the US went in with an ankle sprain and the hospital clocked up thousands and thousands on full body MRI, brain scans, and all sorts of expensive irrelevant tests and specialist consults by the time we were notified. Then when we called the hospital out on it, they began to put pressure on the patient for the money. The patient was a healthy enough pensioner but the stress of the situation caused more health issues they didnt need and spoiled their holiday.

The last thing you need when you are ill is the worry of a large bill or tussles with the hospital to pay - the insurer will run interference for you and take care of other small stuff for you like extending your accommodation, providing translation /transport services or perhaps sending a family member out to support you. The insurance assistance companies wont stint on any care that you need, but their doctors will liaise with the local ones to discuss the best treatment plan including relevant tests and safe repatriation home.

Hopefully the above information will be hugely irrelevant to you and you'll have a lovely holiday, but you'll relax better knowing that if something was to happen, you'd be looked after over there as well as you would at home.

Novella

I flew long-haul when I was about 28-30 weeks pregnant, can't remember exactly. It was an eleven hour flight and I found it fine, no more difficult than flying when I'm not pregnant. I'd had a difficult pregnancy too, with extreme morning sickness but my doctor said that flying wouldn't be a problem.

I think if your wife is feeling good, it would fine but definitely have a chat with her doctor beforehand.

Oh, and congratulations!