Would you fly at 5/6 weeks after previous mc?

[ThatsNotAKnifeThatsASpoon]

Slight dilemma. I have just found out I'm pregnant (yay), literally only 4 weeks today. I had an early mc in November at 5 weeks. Fed up with ttc, I organised a trip to London with my mum last month after an another unsuccesful cycle.

However, here we are. I'll be 5.5 weeks when we're due to fly (not in UK) - flight would only be an hour though. I know if I don't tell my mum beforehand and it comes out while we're there (likely to as obviously won't be drinking and she'll twig it, she knew about previous mc) she might be upset and then worry the rest of the trip and the flight home.

So, two questions, 1. is there anything to worry about taking a flight at this stage? And 2. should I do it anyway knowing it might cause worry if/when she finds out? We've both been really looking forward to this with various things going on, so she'd be disappointed if I cancelled but would definitely understand if I told her why, would hate to cancel unnecessarily though.

All thoughts greatly appreciated :)

Hi I flew at 6 weeks only to Spain felt awful but nice break. My first pregnancy was mmc so petrified but am now 34+3 and bubba is fine. Hard not to worry I know!

What are you worried about exactly? The process of flying has absolutely no bearing on a pregnancy at any stage. Most airlines won't allow you to fly late in pregnancy (or only with doctors permission), but that's becuase they don't want you to go into labour on a plane. This is not because being on a plane brings on labour - it doesn't?
But if you are concerned about generally being away early in pregnancy when you have suffered mc before, then that's understandable as the fear of further mc is horrible. In your circumstances I'd probably tell my mum. Waiting for 12 weeks after a mc can be miserable and worrying, in fact best thing to do is keep occupied to keep your mind off it!

Thanks for the replies. I didn't think there was a medical issue with flying in 1st trimester but wasn't 100% sure, so glad to have that clarified. I'm more worried about upsetting my mum by not telling her and then her finding out while we're there. I might tell her beforehand and let her decide (though she's highly likely to want to cancel). Hmmm food for thought.

difficult. radiation is higher at altitude and early pregnancy is a vulnerable time. On other hand its a short flight. I don't think i'd do it and indeed as i'm TTC i'm already limiting my holiday ideas to UK and eurostar.

you'll probably be fine but i'm taking no chances

I flew, I asked the midwife as well as a private doctor when he scanned me. He said pregnancy had no affect on the baby. Mother has a slightly higher risk of deep vein thrombosis so was advised to wear flight socks and to try and keep them on for 12 hours after flying. I will admit I did panic a bit on the flight that it could do some harm but just been for another scan and baby is fine!

www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/927.aspx?CategoryID=54&SubCategoryID=133

I think that the theory that there is more radiation while flying and hence risk to early pregnancy is unfounded. No mention at all on nhs website.

The 'risks' to travel in early pregnancy are more that you are likely to be very tired, and also if you do miscarry it's not fun to be away. Flying itself is not a risk to pregnancy.

I had a nasty mmc a few years back. Got pregnant again fairly soon, and did fly for a european holiday for a week. Of course I was worried about possibility of another mc - you continually worry about this for the entire first 12 weeks which is very normal. The holiday was a great distraction though. You have the added issue of your mum guessing and worrying/fussing. I can appreciate. My mum was amazing helping me through my mmc. I told her immediately when I found out I was preg again, and she was a great person to talk about for soem rationale advice every time I was fretting about the new pregnancy. She was worried about me over doing things or being tired, but she encouraged me to enjoy the holiday. However, it was with friends, not her! But it depends on your mum. Some mums might spend the whole weekend fretting.

You know for the vast vast majority of mc it isn't anything 'you'have done or exposed yourself to, it's just nature saying sorry this time it"s not viable. It's so hard not to blame yourself and think what if I hadn't done this or that - but what will be will be. The good news is that you concieved again which is extremely positive!!!

I'd say go and have a wonderful time, the break will probably do you good. My first pregnancy ended in a mmc. I'm now pregnant again 34+5 and all is well. In the first trimester of this pregnancy I took a two hour flight to another european city, without even thinking about any potential ill effects. It was good to get away and have some distraction from the constant worry and over-analysing of everything - that never stops by the way! The reality is mc is awful and causes a lot of stress in subsequent pregnancies but by and large mc is just one of those awful things that happen and it's nothing you have done or didn't do, so enjoy your break with your mum.

My daughter flew to NY the day after a bleed at 7 weeks,the break was a surprise, the dr. said there was no point in cancelling the holiday, she was fine, baby now 8 months, x

Yes absolutely. Go fly away, it's fine!

I did it, we were hardly going to cancel our family holiday which involved a 4 hour flight. No medical advice against flying in pregnancy and the trip did me the world of good. Of course, I was scared stiff of miscarrying, but at 5-6 weeks even if it did start on the plane it wouldn't have been an emergency. I would have been much more worried going away at 8-9 weeks actually. But I guess it depends on what stage your previous miscarriages happened at.

Do it. I had 3 mmcs and then in this pregnancy (issue having been identified and fixed) I flew for a work meeting at 8 weeks and then went to the Canaries at 13 weeks. Only issue was morning sickness, which was worse with tiredness and a bit of motion sickness thrown in. I'm so glad now I went on holiday because I am now 27 weeks and boooored of the inside of my house...
I think if you can hack the morning sickness, the first trimester is a good time to go because worst case scenario, if something were to go wrong again (and it's not likely) there's nothing can be done anyway. Now that I'm in the dodgy zone where the wee ones might survive if I go into early labour, but it's not guaranteed, I'm loath to go more than about an hour away from my hospital.

I had am mc at 8 weeks last pregnancy and then discovered I was pregnant after I had booked flights to visit a friend when I would be, you guessed it, 8 weeks. I admit that I did wobble about it. Not because of the flying but the idea of not being at home should I mc again, but I did go and was really pleased afterwards that I had as it took my mind of the whole thing.

I am now 36 weeks with a very bouncy baby and have had a pretty easy pregnancy all in all. So basically I would say don't cancel and go, you will be fine and if the worst should happen it won't be because of the flight.

Thanks all for your thoughts and for taking the time to reply. If my gp gives me the ok I think I will tell my mum and hope she agrees to go. It'll be my first chance to travel since having my dd 2 years ago (and probably last time before dc2 arrives (all going well :)))

Just to try and reassure you, I flew to the UK from NZ when I was 6 weeks pregnant and then back to NZ at 8 and a half weeks. I won't lie, it was awful because my morning sickness was so bad but I'm 37 weeks tomorrow and the baby seems to be doing fine .