MOROCCO WHILST PREGNANT

[bluebutterfly8]

Hello

I need some perspective please.

About a month ago, I booked a holiday to Agadir for mid-August; I've today found out that I'm preg (4-5 weeks). This was unexpected and has come as a surprise but I'm grateful so noy complaining.

The issue is - I'm now panicking because it'll be really hot, there's the risk of food poisoning, and so much more.

I feel like the only options I've got are:

1. Just fly out in Aug and hope for the best.

1. Change the dates to end of May when it'll be cooler. The problem with this is that my husband has applied for his first passport and will be sending the documents including his current passport to home office next week. As it's a first passport, it'll take longer - and what if I change the dates to say 28th of May and the passport hasn't come back.

I'm also conscious that at end of May, I'll be 9 weeks preg which doesn't take me out of the risky period.

1. Cancel the holiday if I'm allowed as I booked a month ago and found out I'm preg today! Also, if they do allow me to cancel but would they cancel for dh and our 3 dc.

Tia

I would cancel

Iv been. And was in a 4* all inclusive so always ate in the hotel so it wasnt to bad but the healthcare out there is poor

Its going to be MEGA hot too

Just keep in mind that public healthcare is terrible and you'd have to go to a fee paying private clinic if anything happens.

It can also get very hot. It can involve a lot of walking, and taxis in the sun can get unbearable very quick

I think it will be a more agreeable experience for you when you're not pregnant

Congratulations! Best of luck to you :)
If you cancel the holiday you might not get a lot of money back so you could always try selling the holiday on Transfertravel.com and that way you'd get more money back than you would have done if you'd just cancel.
I did it a few years ago (when I found out I was pregnant with my little one x) and it worked for me then.
Hope this helps x

I ended up in Dubai in July when pregnant many years ago. Not my choice but that’s another story. Hotel was great. Aircon effective. Toddler and I spent a lot of time under an umbrella by the pool. It was good trip. Depends on how you react to heat and confidence in hotel.

Thank you everyone! I know it'll be far too hot and I'm not good with heat but I knew if I cancelled I would lose out on so much money!

@doll05
Thank you so much for your suggestion - that will make my life soo much easier if someone actually buys it!
I'll defo check it out today and see what happens.

What are the odds of a family of 5 wanting to go to Morocco mid-August!? Hmm..

There is truth in what people are saying about Moroccan healthcare. Saying it's basic probably overstates the reality. It is not a country where you want to experience any kind of medical emergency. Cancel if you can and go somewhere cooler, nearer and with advanced healthcare provision in case you need it.

I wouldn't want to go to Agadir in August when pregnant. Or when not pregnant. Or at any other time of year.

Just to flag, my experience of Moroccan healthcare was in the context of a legal claim after a man died in a quad bike accident in the Atlas Mountains. He was staying at a prestige expensive hotel under a prestige holiday brand (think Necker Island level cost). Made no difference. It took an ice age for an ambulance to turn up, it was a low rise thing that you'd see in a film set in the 1930s. They slung him in the back without any stabilisation and he died on the lengthy trip to the medical centre. Calling it a hospital would not be accurate. It was a building but with little in the way of way of modern medical equipment or staff.

I think you need to cancel - if something goes wrong you don't want to be at the mercy of the Moroccan healthcare system.

I love Morocco and was just about to book for next year. The current advice is not to travel to Morroco or Egypt, as an attack is expected. So for that reason alone, I would cancel if possible. Congrats btw.

Where did you get that advice from - it's certainly not from official sources (except for particular bits of Sinai)? Just got back from Morocco - was in Egypt before that. Would never go in August though - must too hot. Healthcare is not stellar to be fair.

Was it the Aman hotel?

Morocco is the only country I've been to that I wouldn't visit again.

I would be worried about hygiene, the healthcare system, sexual harassment and terrorism.

I found both Marrakech and Agadir absolutely filthy and was relentlessly sexually harassed. There were hundreds of stray cats with fleas everywhere - and I am very much a cat person - and the beach at Agadir was really dirty with human sewage floating in the water. I have an absolutely iron clad stomach and the only place I ever got D&V whilst travelling was in Agadir. I would be concerned about food hygiene too, and I am generally pretty unbothered about food hygiene. We started referring to Agadir as "Agadire".

The only part of my trip I really enjoyed was a three day hike through the Atlas mountains, mainly because we were away from the dirt and the sleazy men. But I wouldn't have been able to do that hike whilst pregnant, and in any case three Scandinavian women were beheaded there by terrorists five years ago.

To be honest I'm not sure the risks for standard tourist hotels is much different in Morocco to the canaries. I ate in local restaurants and didn't have issues either. I would advise to avoid ice and also only eat fruit that's not peeled as melon is an issue in warm climates, know people who got food poisoning in Spain from cut melon. Do you have insurance? Or if it's a package you might be able to change the location but it will likely to be more expensive

No. I wouldn't go. I don't know anyone who's been to Morocco or any part of North Africa for that matter without a very nasty dose of D&V. It's the sickest DH and I have ever been.

Were you planning to get all the jabs needed for Morocco for your kids? That lot alone would have put me off and I know someone who didn't bother and came back with Hep A.
Looks like you have have the jabs needed without risk to the baby. https://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/destinations/africa/morocco#:~:text=Courses%20or%20boosters%20usually%20advised,certificate%20required%20for%20this%20country.

I did go to Morocco in January where the temperatures are only around 25. What I did notice and I was staying in a 4 star hotel in Marrakech that hygiene practices around food were dubious. I did opt for jabs - Hep A, and Typhoid. I was fine - Personally I would look to shift the holiday and take advice on jabs, if you are pregnant,

Everyone I know that's been to Morroco got sick (one lady it went on for months and months). 🤢

Congratulations OP, I hope you find a resolution for your conundrum.

We’ve booked to go to Morocco in October. We will have 2 babies with us, by then they will be 3 months and the other 11 months. All the talk about the healthcare is worrying me! I was hoping that with really good medical insurance and private hospitals we would be ok, but that may not be the case?
We are staying in a private villa so have the option of cooking for ourselves, but had hoped to go out to restaurants. We have paid for the flights and half the villa cost so I think we would lose a lot if we cancel, also there are 6 adults in our party so it’s not my choice only.

I wouldn’t feel comfortable going when pregnant personally. Do you have travel insurance? Are you able to get a note from your midwife (eg at booking appointment) to say you’re not advised to travel there due to pregnancy?

I wouldn't have any worries about going. August is very hot but it's a much drier heat than most European resorts so I've always found it much more bearable. We have always been to Morocco, Tunisia, and Egypt in July and august out of choice, despite being very fair skinned.

If you're sensible with hygiene and what you eat there's no reason why you should get food poisoning. Just make sure you use hand gel religiously before touching anything you put in your mouth, avoid salads and ice, and use hand gel after you touch any money because it's a huge source of bacteria. I would try to eat out in restaurants where food is cooked to order rather than have hotel buffets, which may have been sitting around for ages. You will also get much nicer food!

I think it's a big risk to take two such small children. What will you do if they get sick?

I am so grateful for every comment on this post - you've helped me put things in to perspective and think about solutions I wouldn't have thought of otherwise!

The majority of the comments indicate the medical care isn't the best and know of people who have got sick alongside the hot weather. I don't think it's worth the risk!
I need to sort this out.

A lovely poster sent a link to a site where we can sell holidays - I filled in the form to then have to tick a box to confirm payment has been made in full for the holiday. I haven't paid in full, I'm making monthly payments and still have another 3 to go!

@graceingraceinc22
Thank you for your suggestion to get a doctors letter indicating that I can't travel due to health reasons/preg. I've had 5 MCs prior to this pregnancy therefore I'm already high risk. The last pregnancy I ended up in hosp for a few days because I was bleeding so much. I have been referred to the gynaecology department and should hear from them in the next few days.

I'm just thinking that if I did manage to get a doc letter, would I be allowed to cancel for all 5 of us or just me. I don't want to google because right now my anxiety is sky high and I can't risk making it worse.
Sorry if this sounds like a silly question but would they not say that dh could still go with the kids :/

Tia

Also, just to add I did get travel insurance so I'll have a read of that now.

I travelled extensively in Morocco on a road trip and didn't get d & v. I regularly visited Tangier with no problems either. But then I didn't hang out in tourist hotels on the beach . . .. As for AI, they're appalling. But I wouldn't travel anywhere pregnant tbh.

I went to Marrakesh last October and did NOT get sick. Nor did anyone else in my family. We ate out every night in nice restaurants and everything was fresh and clean. I wasn’t sexually harassed either. They’ve really clamped down on such behaviour now, apparently.

That said, I’d not go there pregnant in August!