Travelling to India

[JustShaggingForNow]

Not PG yet but hoping to start trying in the summer however we are planning a trip to India in October and so I wanted to know if anybody had been there whilst pregnant?

I would look to try and time it so that I am in my 2nd semester and so relatively "safe" on the MC front but I'd love to hear from anybody who's done similar trips.

The advice (from NHS etc) is that travelling to anywhere that needs innoculations or malaria stuff should be avoided if possible when pregnant.

I'd also be concerned about food poisoning.

You'd need jabs so (typhoid / tetanus + a few more) and possibly anti-malaria pills. I wouldn't want to risk it.

Can you just go now before you TTC (and while you can still afford it!). I went almost 10 years ago and it's an amazing place.

No experience myself with this but my friend went on holiday to Asia in her second trimester and had an awful time. She woke up and had terrible bleeding and then endured a terrible time in 2 really poorly equipt and unhygienic hospitals. They told her she might bleed to death and said very unsympathetically they couldn't find a heartbeat. Needless to say the holiday was cut short. Sorry if this is very negative but just so you get both sides. I'm sure there are plenty of people who have had a great time out there whilst pregnant. I had a great time on holiday in Cyprus and would have gone to Thailand could I have afforded it. At the end of the day you should do what makes you happy but make sure you know where there is a hospital in case of emergency. Oh, and fortunately for my friend the baby was okay and she is now 24 weeks and doing well.

IME this kind of travelling involves lots of walking and carrying a big heavy bag. I wouldn't have wanted to do any of that during my second trimester, and I'm sure anyone would say it's not a good idea to put too much physical stress on your body.
Also it's so important to have MW appt's during this period. My cousin had a routine MW appt during her second trimester where a life threatening problem was picked up. Even another week would have meant her baby would most likely have died. You may not have access to adequate health care wherever you are and you just never know what could happen.
I'd really advise against it personally. Go to India and have a fantastic time worry free, and then try for a baby when you get back. In the grand scheme of things, waiting another few months is not too big a deal.

Have travelled through india with work on several occassions, fortunate enough to see some wonderful sights & stay in top end hotels - always careful with water, ice all the usuals, but ALWAYS come away with some sort of bug / upset
i honestly would avoid like nothing else when pregnant, you need to take the anti mal stuff, go now and enjoy, then spend pg looking at your lovely photos! x

Don't go!

Food poisoning is very serious while pg and can cause you to miscarry.

Like others mentioned there is also risk from vacs and anti-malarials.

Also hepatitis E which is common in asia has an extremely high mortality while pg.

I would say either go now, or postpone TTC till after the trip, its not worth it.

I know women who have been pregnant and given birth in India (not me!). I wouldn't do it as a tourist. You have too little control over food prep and water.

If you go I would not have any vax unless you can have them a decent time before pregnancy, whatever doc advises. All the ones I know would have been vaxed well in advance.

Re: food poisoning: it is of course possible to avoid but look at the advice for avoiding and see if you can manage it. High end restaurants no guarantee of safety.

Dengue would be my biggest fear right now. There is no prophylactic except protection from bites and you would have to go the non deet rote obviously.

Depending on where you go you should post on the living overseas board for advice on medical care or on some of the India expat forums.

I think you would be too worried to enjoy yourself. It isn't your last chance .. India is ok with little ones. I would travel further east to a s e Asian country and save India till later. Delhi and Agra will be hell in October with the games on anyway.

Oh you mean next year. Well you could get vaxed up now if you were determined. October is v dengue--ish every year so same advice applied there. The roads can be shit and you get horribly jolted about, any little kid touting in a tourist zone could have rubella, you might have ghastly morning sickness which you can't predict and you might forgetfully brush your teeth in hotel water and pick up some crap or other. Plus you would want to be travelling about so medical care a worry.

Doable but not worth the risk.

I went to India at about 8 weeks pregnant. Was very careful about what I ate, but still got the runs (a slice of tomato that I presumed had been washed in non-bottled water). Not nice to be sitting in a toilet reading the list of precautions and side effects of an anti-diarhhoea medicine, trying to work out which was most dangerous to the pregnancy, the meds or the runs/dehydration.

I went to India 16 weeks pregnant. I was fine on the jabs, as I was up to date before getting pregnent - if you aren't there's an issue as you can't get some of then while pg. Malaria tabs for the area we were in were also ok for pg, again you need to check this as malarone for example is not, so it depends on where you are going. food poisoning can be largely avoided in SE asia by beeing sensible and strict on what you eat. (eating any raw veg is just daft - follow the colonial rule o "boil, peel or fry it or don't touch it" Eat in cheaper restaurants, where you can see them cook the stuff once you've ordered it, not mid range tourist joints where they cook in advance and reheat, if you want fresh fuit juice etc just hand the guy your bottled water and ask them to wash the liquidiser first then biltz your (peelable) fruit etc). Take a mossie net - malaria if you're pg is apparently worse than otherwise.

The way I approached it was to do my worrying/planning first, then relax and enjoy it out there - be sensible and have a great time!

I went to India 16 weeks pregnant. I was fine on the jabs, as I was up to date before getting pregnent - if you aren't there's an issue as you can't get some of then while pg. Malaria tabs for the area we were in were also ok for pg, again you need to check this as malarone for example is not, so it depends on where you are going. food poisoning can be largely avoided in SE asia by beeing sensible and strict on what you eat. (eating any raw veg is just daft - follow the colonial rule o "boil, peel or fry it or don't touch it" Eat in cheaper restaurants, where you can see them cook the stuff once you've ordered it, not mid range tourist joints where they cook in advance and reheat, if you want fresh fuit juice etc just hand the guy your bottled water and ask them to wash the liquidiser first then biltz your (peelable) fruit etc). Take a mossie net - malaria if you're pg is apparently worse than otherwise.

The way I approached it was to do my worrying/planning first, then relax and enjoy it out there - be sensible and have a great time!

I went to India 16 weeks pregnant. I was fine on the jabs, as I was up to date before getting pregnent - if you aren't there's an issue as you can't get some of then while pg. Malaria tabs for the area we were in were also ok for pg, again you need to check this as malarone for example is not, so it depends on where you are going. food poisoning can be largely avoided in SE asia by beeing sensible and strict on what you eat. (eating any raw veg is just daft - follow the colonial rule o "boil, peel or fry it or don't touch it" Eat in cheaper restaurants, where you can see them cook the stuff once you've ordered it, not mid range tourist joints where they cook in advance and reheat, if you want fresh fuit juice etc just hand the guy your bottled water and ask them to wash the liquidiser first then biltz your (peelable) fruit etc). Take a mossie net - malaria if you're pg is apparently worse than otherwise.

The way I approached it was to do my worrying/planning first, then relax and enjoy it out there - be sensible and have a great time!

I went to India 16 weeks pregnant. I was fine on the jabs, as I was up to date before getting pregnent - if you aren't there's an issue as you can't get some of then while pg. Malaria tabs for the area we were in were also ok for pg, again you need to check this as malarone for example is not, so it depends on where you are going. food poisoning can be largely avoided in SE asia by beeing sensible and strict on what you eat. (eating any raw veg is just daft - follow the colonial rule o "boil, peel or fry it or don't touch it" Eat in cheaper restaurants, where you can see them cook the stuff once you've ordered it, not mid range tourist joints where they cook in advance and reheat, if you want fresh fuit juice etc just hand the guy your bottled water and ask them to wash the liquidiser first then biltz your (peelable) fruit etc). Take a mossie net - malaria if you're pg is apparently worse than otherwise.

The way I approached it was to do my worrying/planning first, then relax and enjoy it out there - be sensible and have a great time!

I went to India 16 weeks pregnant. I was fine on the jabs, as I was up to date before getting pregnent - if you aren't there's an issue as you can't get some of then while pg. Malaria tabs for the area we were in were also ok for pg, again you need to check this as malarone for example is not, so it depends on where you are going. food poisoning can be largely avoided in SE asia by beeing sensible and strict on what you eat. (eating any raw veg is just daft - follow the colonial rule o "boil, peel or fry it or don't touch it" Eat in cheaper restaurants, where you can see them cook the stuff once you've ordered it, not mid range tourist joints where they cook in advance and reheat, if you want fresh fuit juice etc just hand the guy your bottled water and ask them to wash the liquidiser first then biltz your (peelable) fruit etc). Take a mossie net - malaria if you're pg is apparently worse than otherwise.

The way I approached it was to do my worrying/planning first, then relax and enjoy it out there - be sensible and have a great time!

I went to India 16 weeks pregnant. I was fine on the jabs, as I was up to date before getting pregnent - if you aren't there's an issue as you can't get some of then while pg. Malaria tabs for the area we were in were also ok for pg, again you need to check this as malarone for example is not, so it depends on where you are going. food poisoning can be largely avoided in SE asia by beeing sensible and strict on what you eat. (eating any raw veg is just daft - follow the colonial rule o "boil, peel or fry it or don't touch it" Eat in cheaper restaurants, where you can see them cook the stuff once you've ordered it, not mid range tourist joints where they cook in advance and reheat, if you want fresh fuit juice etc just hand the guy your bottled water and ask them to wash the liquidiser first then biltz your (peelable) fruit etc). Take a mossie net - malaria if you're pg is apparently worse than otherwise.

The way I approached it was to do my worrying/planning first, then relax and enjoy it out there - be sensible and have a great time!

I went to India at 14 weeks pregnant.

Wad a ball in the relatively safe Goa. It was a truly magnificent holiday. The only concession I made was that I didn't eat anything off the street - we stuck to hotel prepared food and bottled water only (also for brushing teeth). I normally wouldn't bother with this and I've never had food poisoning in a third world country.

Just make sure your jabs are up to date before you get pregnant.

As somebody has already mentioned, millions of women give birth in India every year. They survive. Pregnancy is not an illness. To my mind, you can carry on as normal with a few added precautions.

Having thought about though - I'll second the morning sickness warning.

I fell pregnant with my DD four months into a 7 month trip. I was hideously sick and missed out on a lot due to spending copious amounts of time in the bog vomiting.

We travelled in China, Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia during this time. I normally love shopping in a local market but couldn't do it because the smells made me heave a zillion times.

Sorry about the multiple posts by the way - pressed send just as server shutdown happened, and it seems to have got a little enthusiastic...

RE possible emergencies someone has mentioned here i a) made sure I had goldplated travel insurance for this trip b) made sure I know which hospital I wanted to go to if anything had occured, so in an emergency we could act instantly and accordingly.