Travelling late in pregnancy (35 wks) - am I mad to consider it?

[minijoeyjojo]

One of my very good friends is getting married in August this year when I will be 35 weeks pregnant. Problem is the wedding is in the south of France. We were already planning to drive down as we've done this a few times before and enjoy a good road trip, but am I absolutely bonkers to be considering it at 35 weeks?

Worst case scenario I have a baby in France!! Would I need insurance to cover that or am I ok within Europe with an E111 card? Will I die in a car for 12 hours - we may break it up over 2 days there and 2 days back but part of me wants to minimise the time out of the country!

Would love to hear if anyone else has done this :)

I haven't and I'm afraid I wouldn't!
I was invited to a wedding in North Wales (about 5 hrs from where we live) at 35 weeks last time, and declined. It's not so much the journey there, or the giving birth somewhere else, but the getting home with a newborn that concerned me. It was my first and I had no idea what it would be like. I think I made the right decision as I ended up being kept in for 3 days due to a traumatic birth (for her not me!) and getting her to try and feed - trying to do this anywhere but the hospital or the comfort of my own home would have been a nightmare. I'm really not sure about doing 12 hours in a car after a caesarean either.

Your standard travel insurance should cover you, but call and check and your E111 will cover you to.

I agree with PP, it is the amount of stuff you would have to take too in the event that you have baby there. You would have to take everything you would need for a newborn 'just in case'. Also heavily pregnant in august you might not want to spend 12 hours sat down, you will probably need to stop a lot too in order to move your legs (DVT risk) and probably wee!

Obviously you know your own body but I wouldn't risk it, obviously medically you would get good treatment but it is a long way.

www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcareabroad/plannedtreatment/Pages/Givingbirth.aspx

It is recommended that you have adequate travel insurance as the EHIC may not cover you for every situation.

Even if you plan to give birth in the UK and you're only going for a short trip abroad, you're advised to take a valid EHIC with you. The card will provide cover for all medical treatment linked to the birth if the baby is born unexpectedly.

Why would you need to take everything you might need for a newborn, just in case? They have shops in France.

I wouldn't do it, but purely from a comfort point of view. That long in a car at that stage would be bloody awful. I wouldn't be worried about the rest of it.

Apart from the heat, the time sat still and the risk of going into labour abroad, how long will it take you to get back with a newborn given they can't spend more than a couple of hours in the car seat at a time? Plus the risk of the heat in the car for them on the drive. Personally if you really want to go and your medical team ok it I'd look to fly there. Yes it will mean you have to stay in France for a bit longer after the birth before the baby is safe to fly but the practicalities involved in such a long car journey do seem a bit bonkers to me but at the same time you could have another 6 weeks before you give birth.
Tough call

I'm 36 weeks right now and the last week has been really hard, I wouldn't want to go far from home now really. Heavy, potentially could go into labour, I think I would have assumed I'd be much more mobile but now the babies head is engaged it's really hard to walk.

So If you do decide to go, I'd prepare yourself so you have everything you need incase the baby is born over there.

There's no way I would, but then I have severe SPD and am the size of a house. The idea of spending that much time in a car makes me want to weep.

Personally I wouldn't, but then I gave birth with major complications unexpectedly at 36+1. Like you I was planning on a long trip from the south to Scotland!

If you have your baby there at 35 weeks you'll probably need a hospital with NICU / SCBU

Even if you and baby are fine you will need to consider:

• Getting baby's documents sorted out before you can reenter the UK. This happened to my friend in Italy - a lot of faffing with embassies!
• A newborn can only go in a car seat for a couple of hours
• if you're thinking of bf this will need establishing. If you're ff all the sterilising etc on a long trip will also be tricky.
• If you have a c section or VB with stitches you won't want a long car trip. I found 10 mins back from the hospital excruciating.
• If you get any complications between now and then your insurer might not pay out. I don't think mine covered after 35 weeks for a normal pregnancy but phone and check
• You're going to need to pack a lot of stuff! All baby things,car seat, hospital bag etc

I travelled (as a passenger) across the Uk at about 35/36 weeks in my last pregnancy. Traffic issues meant it ended up being a six hour drive. I have a long body so plenty of space for baby and am generally very fit in pregnancy (did regular yoga class up to delivery) but the drive really hurt me. I think you would be crazy to go.

Hmm its tricky.

I am 28 weeks with my second now and have just come back from a weekend in Spain. I found on the way back my hips really started to hurt from all the sitting down on the plane etc (i had spd last pregnancy). I think I wouldn't want to do any very long car journeys (ie 3 hours plus) from now on.

And that's without the worry of going into labour early which is of course possible!

How long will the drive be? I've done the south of france drive before and we stopped over somewhere half way down as it took so long!

Unfortunately having the baby is not the worst thing that can happen. I had friends who went to Paris for one last weekend at 30 weeks. They had a very sober sad journey home when their baby stopped moving and was confirmed to have no heart beat at a hospital in Paris. They were bluntly told 'your baby is dead you need to return to your own hospital'.

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your replies. The drive would be about 12 and a half hours, although we could split this over two days so 6 hours each day. There is also a possibility of the Eurostar which would be 6 hours, plus a drive at the end.

Its really hard for me to know how I'll feel as this is my first pregnancy and I have no idea what I'll be feeling like then. All I know is that its probably different for everyone!

Lonecat so sorry to hear about your friend, that does sound awful.

I am in two minds whather to go to my holiday in Cornwall, although it is right at my due date, but I don't think I would consider leaving the country

Would you consider flying? I think for low risk pregnancies it's considered ok up until 37 weeks now.

You are right that you won't know how you personally will feel, and nor will anyone on here. That's why it's probably easier yo weigh up the known practicalities so:
-would you be prepared to cancel the trip potentially at the very last minute if you get to 34 weeks and decide you don't feel up to going?
-the need to take some baby essentials just in case, fir example, your hospital bag including a days supply for baby, car seat. You can buy the rest but worth finding out in advance where your DH needs to go to get things including what the French word is for breast pads, breast pump, maternity pads and anything else he may struggle to gesture to describe (unless you have a sense of humour!)

• where the local hospital is to the wedding venue and your hotel and how easy is it to drive there. Can you do a test run when you get down there? Last thing you want is to be in labour and your DH struggling to find the hospital/car park/maternity ward and you trying to navigate for him. You probably also need to think about this for wherever you are stopping over and all the way down the route. You don't want to go into labour midway down the motorway and not know where the nearest place is, just find out where the big hospitals are

-what is the local policy for going to hospital? For example, in the uk you would obviously call your midwife when you first thought you were in labour and they would guide you as to when you should come in. Does the French system work in the same way? If you were to turn up in A&E what would happen? The French have a semi private system so it may vary depending on where you go and what the local private vs state system is. -what does your insurance cover for you? Will it then also cover the baby given this is a separate individual once they are born? A someone said, if th baby needs scbu will the insurance cover this and also any postnatal appointments in France if you need them before returning to the uk?

• how will you drive the newborn baby home given the restrictions on them being in the car seater longer than two hours? Your twelve hour journey might suddenly need to take three days.

This may seem like a lot of things to think about an it's not meant to be a doom and gloom list saying don't go. I have survived this pregnancy with the fuzzy logic of "if I've thought about it and prepared for the worst, it won't happen". Daft I know but I'd rather have thought about all possibilities and can then relax than have something go wrong and then start stressing when I'm already stressed.

Hopefully somebody will be on who lives in France who can explain the French maternity system including the management of premature babies.

Ultimately it doesn't matter if we all think you are a little but nuts, if you want to go and you are happy with your decision then go and enjoy the wedding and a bit if guaranteed sunshine. My mum used to live down there and it will be 30-35degrees at least in august so proper scorchio but lovely and sunny (just don't forget the factor 50 as your skin will be more sensitive to the sun) xx

just a thought..... IF the baby was born in france..... would you have to get them a passport before they could come home? I don't actually know the answer though just wondered if it is worth thinking about..

Like PP said it is ultimately up to you and how you feel. You could take it all in your stride. Euro star may be better?

Yep, you have to get some sort of document to bring them into the UK. Happened to my friend in Italy! If there's not an embassy nearby it may take some time.

How far gone are you on the way back OP? Just thinking, my 36 weeker could barely fit in a car seat, he was so tiny in there and slumped over, I doubt the medics would've advised a long journey for him. If he'd been born away from home I think we'd have had to stay at least a few weeks on top of the hospital stay. A preemie can be very different to a newborn, although fx you won't ever have to research that

You can get a lay flat car seat which I think solves the car seat problem . If you don't mind giving birth in France then go, but the French system is quite different to the Uk one. I am not sure where the embassies are in France, I know there is one in Paris . This is the link to where the embassies are
embassy-finder.com/united-kingdom_in_france

I travelled down to St Tropez when I was 32 weeks - split the journey across two days and spent 7/8hrs a day in the car. We came home when I was 34 weeks. The journey home was much, much worse.
We took the car seat and a hospital bag for me and some newborn clothes, just in case. Would I do it again? Nope. Whilst the break was lovely and much needed, I was so uncomfortable in the car and so tired that I was laid on the sofa asleep at 5pm every afternoon so it almost wasn't worth going!

Thank you again 2015isgoingtobeBIG that is a fabulous list - I love it, give me loads to think about.

We're currently due to arrive on a thurs and I'll be 35+1, we'll return on the Sunday when I'll be 35+4. It looks like maybe flying BA or Ryanair (shudders) is a possibility as they let you fly until you're 36 weeks. Flying would be much much easier, we're not far from the London airports so it wouldn't be too bad at this end.

If you can fly I'd definitely do that. Make sure your insurance will cover if you need to cancel flights/hotels if you don't feel well enough.

Remember you will also need a 'fit to fly' letter from your GP too, so you will need to schedule this in. I had to make an appointment to see my GP a week before my flight and then she did the letter for me (for a £20 charge....) which I picked up the day before I flew.

At 35 weeks I would have really struggled with that long in the car.

You're welcome. I'm in my final five weeks so my life is full of lists ?? if I was able to consider flying right now instead of a long drive I would definitely choose that (I'm a twin pregnancy and officially high risk so no chance). If you go with Ryanair they often go to smaller airports where there will be less walking and less waiting around for your luggage (Bezier the plane almost draws up next to the car park). Not sure how you'd get the baby from the hospital to the plane though and whether in France they insist on a car seat to leave the hospital like over here. Might be worth factoring in buying a car seat out there if you need it just to get to the airport and then home from the airport the other side.

Happy thinking and good luck whatever you decide.

With a premature baby most airlines and doctor's fit to fly will be around 2-14 days old from due date NOT the date they were born. So if you give birth at 35, expect the earliest to travel to be when you would've been due, so at least 5 weeks. All airlines vary though. Although it might take a little while to get the birth registered and the consulate and the passport anyway.

I'm not wanting to scare you OP as you'll probably be fine and have a lovely pregnancy. It's just not something I'd thought about until it happened one day!

I wouldn't - I went into labour (completely unexpectedly) around then, and it was bad enough getting back home from London never mind abroad

Other considerations:

• is your / DH's French good enough to deal with questions and medical information? Labour can be scary enough without a language barrier

• would you be able to have the birth you would want eg pain relief, intervention, c section, skin to skin, DH present etc? What about normal / mandatory vaccinations?

• where is the nearest British embassy outpost to get emergency travel documents sorted?