Has anyone done a 24 economy flight at 30 weeks pregnant?

[LisaCar]

Hi, I have just booked a flight back home to Oz in October so I can have the baby back there. I tried to upgrade to business class with frequent flier points but there were no seats available so I am stuck in economy. Has anyone done this or a similar trip at 30 weeks and what was it like? i am a bit worried about it.

Hello,

I just took a 15 hour flight at 22 weeks. I flew with Virgin and they were very accommodating. They seated me in an extra leg room seat close to a WC. I walked around a lot, wore flight socks and drank loads of water.

I felt surprisingly well by the time I reached my destination.

Good luck!

Wow, good luck. Take your own travel blanket and pillow as it will really help. I found the new design of seats really uncomfey for head support so bought cheap pillow in Aus and it made huge difference. I would bet that when they see the size of you (do not mean to be rude here) they will give you a better seat either up graded or with an empty seat next to you. Drink lots of water so you don't get head aches and wear the sexy socks!

I did Costa Rica to London at 36 weeks (two planes, 18 hour trip total) I did manage to get the priority seats on one flight, it made a huge difference, they are the ones in front of a wall with loads of leg room (and you can rest your feet up against the wall ) They are kept "reserved" for priority passengers right up until boarding, so you have to be at the gate early and be prepared to "out-prioritise" other passengers who may be fighting over them, especially if it is a crowded flight.

I second the use of flight socks, I also took baby aspirin as the risk of thrombosis increases with pregnancy anyway, adding the flight will up it even more. It MUST be low dose (81mg) aspirin though, not full dose. Also keep an empty water bottle with you that you can fill up from fountains once past security, and ask the stewards on the plane to fill it for you as soon as you get on.

I found at the Costa Rican end there were lots of priority queues or signs saying I could queue jump which took a lot of the strain of travelling away, things not so good in USA and Europe though, ask where you can if you can queue jump as it will save you a lot of energy.

Pillow and blanket is also a great idea - I invested in a nice comfy neck pillow and was glad of it.

good luck and have a nice trip.

Yes, I did it when pregnant with my DD1. Flew from Australia to the UK at 27 weeks and back at 29 weeks, my younger sister was getting married. It was actually much easier than I anticipated and I just made sure I rested lots at each end rather than trying to "push through" the jet lag as quickly as possible.

Take a letter from your doctor confirming your due date. I had no trouble on the long haul legs but on the internal leg within the UK they asked to see the letter.

My OB told me to drink lots of water, once the crew realised why I kept asking for water they just kept giving me small water bottles every time they passed me and then gave me extras for the next part of the flight. Cos of all the water you don't tend to have trouble with moving often as you have to go to the loo so often!

Check with your doctor about asprin as I was told not to take any on the flight but to wear flight socks.

Don't lift anything into the overhead lockers as it is awkward.

Good luck with it.

Thanks everyone. I will take advanatge of your tips and get myself a pillow and drink loads of water etc. I am not looking forward to it but maybe they will take pity on me and give me a better seat.

I did a flight from London to Brisbane at 32 weeks. I had a special seat booked but they cancelled my flight and I was given a normal seat. The flight was not as bad was what I thought it would be and we had 15 hr stopover in Singapore as well which helped. Lots of water and those very sexy flight socks!!

I did Oz trip at 26 weeks with DS1 (4) and DD1 (2) and back again 2 weeks later. I survived.

Advice: lots of water, lots of trips to toilet for the exercise and your own pillow. And never, never, NEVER fly pregnant with two small children. Actually, it would be better to never fly with small children at all. Wish Dh wasn't Australian then I could take all my holidays in Britain