AIBU to tell work I won't go to Australia?

[Corporatepreggolady]

Hi there,

First time posting so would love any thoughts. I'm very early pregnant (yay!) but have a work trip to Australia scheduled for September, when I'll be 21 weeks.

I know that's below the official no go threshold, so technically there may be no health issues provided I move around to avoid deep vein thrombosis.

But... it would still mean 24 hours of flying, awful jetlag, being away from DP and a VERY intense work week on the other side of leading workshops when I land.

AIBU to ask work to find someone else for this trip?

Very different in terms of jet-lag. The 10/11 hour time difference is a killer compared to 5/6 has with the Maldives.

You should be fine. Make sure they give you business class. It'll be lovely weather here and we have world class hospitals.

Do a search on x weeks holiday and nobody seemed to think it was bad to go on busy holidays while pregnant.

Can you teach workshops via Teams or Zoom? That's a modern and if it's a do-able option, suggest this

I think that people who have never flown to Australia from the UK are commenting. As somebody who has it is an incredibly long trip and I wouldn't have contemplated it at 21 weeks. It is 18 hours flying and jet lag is a real thing. You'd have to have medical cover in case you got pregnancy complications in Australia as there would be no free medical care. Worst case is if you got serious complications and got stuck there till you gave birth.

Pretty much everyone has advised OP not to fly!

Here in Australia we have reciprocal health care arrangements with the uk, assuming OP has a UK passport, so op would be entitled to free necessary healthcare here.

Other than that, I do agree, the flight is crap, even in business class.

There is no way such a trip is advisable. It’s too long. There is risk of thrombosis, risk of something going wrong mid flight, risk to you and your baby so no company would make you to do it. Bet anything HR would not that allow it. I flew many times while pregnant. Short haul. Which is an entirely a different matter. One of my pregnancies meant I had to keep my legs up in the latter stages. There is no way I’d have managed long haul like that. You do not know what way you will be at 21 weeks.

I would frame the question from an insurance perspective.

This was my issue as well. I recall travelling to the USA at 16 weeks and returning at 18 weeks and that was pretty much the cut off. HR had to have discussions with the insurers about it all. This was 13 years ago though.

No, you are not BU. Pregnancy can put a huge strain on the body, and that strain can be hidden when you're feeling like Superwoman in your second trimester. The effect on your blood pressure is, I think, a good medical reason to avoid long-haul flights while you have a bun in the oven. As PPs have suggested, I'd discuss this with your employers and raise it as a business and insurance risk.

I'm in Australia, and I've done Melbourne-London and Sydney-Frankfurt-Manchester flights a few times. It is hard enough on a young, fit, non-pregnant body, let me tell you. If you do decide to come, I urge you to break the trip midway, preferably in Singapore, and do some good clot-busting walks for two or three days before travelling on. You will have reciprocal medical rights here, if you need attention. Here in Melbs the Royal Women's is the major maternity hospital, but if your insurance covers private ob/gyn and hospital care, I'd advise you use it, as public hospitals are quite stretched.

A PP mentioned Zoom/teams as a way to deliver your workshops. Would that work for whatever subject you are teaching? I've done Zoom workshops as a student and found them pretty effective.

Nope, I wouldn't go. Apart from the long flight, the memories of Covid/lockdown would still be etched in my mind, including people being trapped in Australia/the UK when the borders closed and being unable to return home for months due to government restrictions and lack of space on flights. I would like to think that this wouldn't happen again, but you never know (Covid is presently increasing in the UK) and I wouldn't risk being away when mid-pregnancy.

You may want that, but no the employer wouldn't be obliged to provide that. A typical seat would be sufficient. At best maybe a front seat with additional space if available!

I flew uk to Ireland at 19 weeks and honestly it was tough enough. I couldn't imagine doing the journey to Australia, which is a journey i found exhausting when I was a fit and healthy 21 year old.

@ChoiceMummy It will depend on the company’s policy. The one I work for allows upgrades for flights of 8 hours plus. No way would I be travelling economy to Australia!

I flew at about that stage of pregnancy on a 24 hour journey with a 90 minute stopover to change planes. I had my 2.5 year old with me. Economy. But I got to stay for five weeks so jet lag wasn’t the issue. In fact, the GP gave me some anti-clotting meds to take via injection and it was such a game changer (felt amazing) that I asked for it the next time when I wasn’t pregnant. Sadly they turned me down!

I doubt your employer would risk sending you anyway. You might have a difficult pregnancy and need time off sick so they would need a plan B at short notice, so my guess is they will find someone else to go.

I would too. Realistically I think if they have a viable alternative, be it zoom or someone else, they'll probably prefer to go for that just in case. Not least because there's a higher chance than average of a pregnant woman being too ill to travel and thus wasting them thousands of pounds at the last minute.

But discuss your worry about thrombosis, how the journey can best be designed to mitigate that (ie a more lengthy and expensive version) the need for a seat in business/extra space so you can have space to stretch out and deal with any back problems. That type of thing.

This.

I did short haul travel around those points with both my pregnancies and found that tiring enough. I pulled out of a trip to Canada as didn’t want to do long haul while pregnant. It’s a very personal decision but I wouldn’t want to do Canada.

it was annoying enough sorting insurance for Europe and I wanted a cast iron guarantee that I would be covered for pregnancy related complications. Nothing happened on either of my trips but the day after I got back from one I had a bad fall and needed anti-d so not totally out of the question that you could need medical attention and obviously risk of being away if you miscarry.

Thanks everyone. It sounds like I'm best talking about it in a logical way – business insurance likely won't cover me, and there's the risk I'll need to drop out at the last minute because of complications or sickness.

So it's better for work to get someone else on the project now, rather than hope I'll be fine to go and face lots of extra admin and costs further down the line.

As lots of people have said, it's not so much flying that's my issue, but I've done the trip before, non-pregnant, and it was pretty horrendous.

I more meant that I'd be on my own while 21 weeks pregnant, without any support system like I have at home. I mentioned it here only as another sidenote on the subject of welfare - but point taken, I won't mention it with work.

This was in response to @HollowTalk and @PaddingtonBearStareAgain, btw.

Yep I'd focus on that. If I were the person in charge of deciding who goes, I'd rather know well in advance that one of the available options is a potential insurance risk and stands a higher than average chance of being unable to go.

Absolutely not.

It was a horrendous trip in my 30's without pregnancy or children.

I wouldn't do it a again even for free.

I had hyperemesis that kicked in at 14 weeks and went through to having DD1 and could barely leave the house until I had her at 36 weeks - I'd lost 1.5 stone in those 22 weeks best diet ever but not recommended. You probably won't (I hope not for your sake) but the point is that while you might sail through pregnancy fine, and get to the end having been able to fly out and back with no issues - that's only one of the possibilities.

And you can't predict how a pregnancy might go and what might blindside you half way through. If a long haul flight can be avoided I think it would be sensible to stay home.

Yes agree that you need to talk about it in a practical business sense which it seems like you're planning to do.

Is there somebody else who can go? Are they a reasonable employer? Do work know about your pregnancy? They might not even send you. I wouldn't send one of my employees to Australia if they were pregnant.

I think you have your answer and sounds like you are going to approach your boss in the best way.

To those saying Australia has excellent health care. That is true and it was free but it is too far to go and risk getting stuck. I wouldn't want to be stuck there without DH/ family/ friends and give birth alone.

But yes it is way too far I did the trip a few times it is loooong I would not even consider it pregnant