Looking for tips for babymoon!

[giraffesauce]

I'm 12 weeks pregnant, my husband and I would like to go away for 7-10 days while I can still fly.

What we're looking for:

• Max 4 hour flight
• Warm climate as we'll spend summer in the UK
• A mix of sightseeing/activities and relaxing
• Would like to be by the sea at least for a portion of the trip
• We want to generally take it easy due to the pregnancy
• We're happy to rent a car and drive around once we reach our destination.
• Budget about £2k pp, but can stretch for something amazing

We're considering Sicily, Naples & surrounding areas, Greece and possibly the south of Spain.

I'll be 20 weeks on 22nd March and 24 weeks on 19th April. I'm going to try and ask some very specific questions:

1. Would it be unwise to travel after 24 weeks?
   We've had a very traumatic and long journey to this pregnancy, and I'm worried about the risks in case something happens and the baby is extremely premature (happened to a friend of ours and they both nearly died). My husband thinks we should not fly after 20 weeks but I wonder if he's being overly cautious?

2. Can anyone recommend a destination in Greece with good hospitals and healthcare?
   If we went away between 24-26 weeks we would find much warmer weather & possibly be able to sunbathe/lounge by the pool, which I would love. But if something were to happen I don't know how I would feel about the local healthcare. We're familiar with Italy&Spain, less so with Greece. I assume it would be best to avoid small islands (although we adore the Cyclades) and best to stick to more populated areas on the mainland, but we don't know where to start looking.

If you've done something similar and have had similar concerns I would love it if you hit me up with your recommendations 😊

I’m at a similar stage and situation to you and hoping to go away end of May….

Now wondering if that is mad…

It’s quite an awkward time of year for warmth in Europe. We went at a similar time and ended up picking a cold holiday instead in Switzerland visiting the mountains and a few other places which was great even though I had also initially been keen on a relaxing trip. The risk tolerance is totally up to you but I preferred to be back in the UK by the viability limit as you could be stuck abroad for months with a very premature birth which would cause massive problems assuming partner would need to be back at work etc Of course it’s pretty rare and most people would be fine. I found earlier better for comfort too. Pretty soon after that I started carting around a massive pregnancy pillow on UK trips in order to be able to sleep comfortably.

Oh we went to kefalonia when I was five months pregnant. I didn't even give a thought to health care at the time 😕

I was over 5 months pregnant when we went to Southern France. Can't recommend it, most food I loved was on the forbidden list.

And despite normally nice temperatures end of March (assured by friends who lived in the area for years) we had snow and frost.

We went because the flight time was not that long, I wouldn't have wanted to spend 4 hours in a plane.

I don't think you would be able to get sunny and mid-twenties outside the Canary Islands that early and because it's Easter holidays the first two weeks, prices will be high.

Could you compromise and look for a cold holiday in a really nice hotel with spa, pool, comfortable lounge/book a suite to snuggle in? Somewhere in Bavaria or Austria?

I would say that flying just after 20 weeks is the perfect time to go. You will have had your second scan which should hopefully provide reassurance and unless there are medical issues is probably the “safest” time to travel.

I went to St Lucia when I was five months pregnant and it was perfect (pre Zika times). I didn’t have any problems with the flight time and we flew economy.

Honestly what made it for me was we stayed in a very swanky hotel. The kind where children are seen but not heard and not the sort of place I would want to take a toddler or small child. Nice restaurants and bars on the beach.

It’s only now my kids are teenagers that I would feel comfortable going back there and I would feel able to properly relax and enjoy it.

I would totally go for the “grown up” accommodation options in places with direct flights from the U.K.

The BA sale is on at the moment (ends tomorrow) with some good deals. Corsica and Sicily would be great options - just starting to warm up.

I've never heard the term 'Babymoon' before tbh. Shouldn't it be a 'Pre-babymoon'?

Canaries. Spain has much better healthcare than Greece.

I went to Athens at 23 weeks pregnant during my first pregnancy, it was lovely (I had severe hyperemesis until 18 weeks so we went last minute once I started to feel better- I’d probably have gone a bit sooner if I’d been well enough).

If you’re going in spring then there are buses to the coast and a lot of the city is very walkable (even when you’re pretty big). The museum is one of the best I’ve been to, the food was great and there’s a lovely park with lots of ruins that’s easy to walk around (the acropolis was more challenging but doable, if you don’t fancy it then there are great views from the museum restaurant!)
The food is great and we did a really nice cooking course.
There are private hospitals in Athens that have good healthcare (I looked into this because I had a few pregnancy complications so wanted to make sure that we’d be able to access decent healthcare if I needed it).
The weather probably won’t be super hot (not hot enough from sunbathing and swimming) but very comfortable for walking around.

Babymoon is when you go away as a family with the baby no??

Won't be that warm in Greece that time of year.. plus you need high insurance in case for private health care.. and I'd check the hospitals before you go if you choose Greece.. some you have to take your own sheets and food.
The canary Islands are great for weather..
4 hours flight and all have fabulous hospitals/ health care and English speaking doctors etc.
Playa Blanca in Lanzarote would be ideal.
Laid back.. spread out.. fabulous restaurants. Hire a car ( autoreisen from airport) Canadian firm..
Wonderful stunning scenery and places to visit.
Great hotels/ villas.

I’ve never heard the term before, but think it’s a perfect description! The honeymoon is after all, the period before the harsh realities of married life kick in - babymoon presumably before the sleepless nights and exhaustion! (It’s all worth it, op!) Hope you have a lovely babymoon wherever you choose, and that your pregnancy and birth are problem-free!

One more thing: You should get a travel insurance which also covers any birth related issues in case you are giving birth abroad. Often only pregnancy ones are covered, read the fine print very carefully.

If you have some pregnancy related health issues at the moment, make sure they are covered as pre-existing ones.

Babymoon is when you go away as a family with the baby no??

No it’s what the OP is planning to do, a trip with your partner before baby’s arrival.