Pregnancy and overseas work...

[sparrows]

Hello

My partner and I have decided that we would like to try for a baby sometime next year!!!! I know this is a long way off yet, but we have a lot to think about, including how to manage my job.

I work for a UK based organisation that do a lot of overseas work in Asia and Africa. Every few months I spend about 3 weeks in very remote villages with very few medical facilities. I also have to take malaria tablets. This means that once (perhaps twice) during my pregnancy I would be in a remote part of a developing country.

I am well aware that women throughout the world have healthy pregnancies despite a lack of medical facilities. But I also know things can and do go wrong. I really don?t want to give my job up and I tell myself it is unnecessary and overcautious to do so. But with no knowledge of what it is like to be pregnant (or to be pregnant when things go wrong) I have very little to base this on!

Has anyone had any experience of being remote and pregnant?!

Thank you all x

I haven't had any experience, but just wanted to say that employers are supposed to conduct a risk assessment and adjust your role as necessary. Your organisation may find that their insurance wont cover you while you are abroad in such a remote place. Also, depending on how pregnant you are when you are due to go abroad will be a key factor as many airlines wont let you travel in the third trimester anyway.

Hi there,
congrats on that decision; lets hope that things happen sooner rather than later... ksaunders is right about all that stuff, but you may still do some travelling in the second trimester- although remember that you do not have to give up your position in the company, but like many flight attendants, they may just want to make your position different and ground you for a while.

Well.... My family and I are moving to Mozambique May 2012, I am just pregnant again, and have a little girl just turned 1.
Obviously I dont know what country you are going to , or the relative risks, only you can make that decision. I dont know that I would have been prepared to take my first so soon back to that situation as I will with #2 and who knows maybe the rest of them will be born there...
As westerners in Mozambique we will have access to private healthcare, yes maybe a journey away from the most remote places.

Due to the relative enormity of the wealth in your pocket I dont think your experience is even comparable to the diabolical conditions many have to endure in pregnancy and childbirth in that country- it is sad, but that was meant as an encouragement to you.

All the best!

I hadn't even considered insurance but I will defiantly look into. Thanks for the tip!

I certainly would be the most privileged person in the villages I work in. And yes, that is sad. I think my concern is that no matter how much cash I have the facilities aren't there. I have a friend who needed hospital care 6 months into her pregnancy and this scares me. I guess her experience isn?t the norm, but still....

I?m sure once I have been through the pregnancy experience and have moved on to pregnancy/baby 2 and 3 (etc!) I won?t be half as worried!! After all, my partner and I see ourselves living in East Africa one day!!

I love Mozambique, ?thegauntlet? - what an amazing place to bring up your family!