Flying long haul while pregnant

[Myusername2015]

Hi; we are thinking about getting a weeks holiday to the USA in to see family before baby number 1 gets here...as a teacher I'm limited by dates so would be going in February at 21/22 weeks....anyone flown long haul at this time? i know there are so many variables but assuming all is going to plan do you think it's feasible? Thanks for any advice.

You'll be fine but just make sure you have great travel insurance incase there are any issues.

I am sure that would be fine, I flew regularly right through my pregnancy.

You'll be fine — my girlfriend flew long-haul (London to San Francisco) at around that time. It was totally fine both ways. My only advice would be book an aisle seat if possible and make sure you walk around regularly.

Absolutely fine. I flew long haul regularly up to 32w with no problems. Wear compression socks, drink lots of water and move around the cabin (this is for you, not baby - the risk is that you get dvt as you have lots more blood than normal). And enjoy!

Stealth gave great advice above. I flew Manchester to Cape Town at 31 weeks and it was fine. Drank water, socks and moved about and actually came off the flight less swollen than I would have not pregnant. You'll be fine at 21 weeks, you won't even need a fit to fly letter

You will be fine! We flew to LA, San Fran and Vegas when I was about 12 weeks. Then to turkey when I was 28 weeks. I just drank lots of fluids, went to the toilet a lot, had a good walk about the plane and wore flight socks!
Enjoy your trip!

I flew long haul quite a few times until about 27 weeks pregnant. My doctor gave me blood thinning injections to protect me agains DVT but apart from that i was fine. Let your insurance provider know, but as long as your doctor is happy with you flying there shouldn't be a problem.

As others have said, declare you pregnancy to the insurer before you buy your policy and purchase the best possible cover - even if this means scrimping elsewhere in the holiday budget. Priority number 2 for money would be the most roomy seat you can afford - business class if possible, then premium economy, or whatever gives you most legroom and definitely an aisle seat. Your risk of DVT is massively increased beyond your non-pregnant state and you do not want to take any chances. Follow all the guidelines for moving about, hydration etc to the letter.

Ask your doctor or midwife if you can get higher-grade compression socks - the ordinary flight socks may not be enough. If they don't recommend anything specific, ask your pharmacist and make sure oh are measured and correctly fitted for them.

Obviously everyone is different but Personally I would only risk long haul to visit family, not just a general holiday, so that if something did happen necessitating a longer stay, then you have something of a support network nearby. If you did develop DVT or PE for example, it could potentially be weeks or months before you were cleared for the flight home. Not to mention any risks of premature labour, etc. So think very carefully before you book.

And check, check, check again your insurance policy, including coverage while abroad and terms for cancelling the holiday in advance if needs be.

You should be fine. I flew long haul Sydney to Manchester and back at 20 weeks. As pps have said, just make sure you check the airline policy and your travel insurance, wear flight socks to reduce risk of swelling/DVT, drink plenty of water and get up as often as you can and walk the aisles.

What Stealth said. I did a 12 hour flight at 31 weeks. I wore some seriously ugly flight socks, drank lots of water and moved around as much as I could. Luckily it was a night flight so not many others moving around. I flew premium economy which was ok but I was quite restless and couldn't sleep. No issues though.

I flew long haul around this time just for a last child-free jaunt (which was great!). As others have said just take extra precautions against DVT (compression socks, hydration, plenty of movement) and you should be fine. It'll be years and years before you can fly long haul as easily again so seize the opportunity!

That should be fine as long as you're low risk. I flew at 31 weeks with my first and I've got 2 long hauls booked with the 3rd and I'll be 29 and then 31 weeks for them. Go for it! x

I flew to Miami (is that long haul? It's about 9 hours) when I was 28 weeks and back again at 30.

No problems at all.

Hiya, looking at going to America at 26 weeks pregnant. Haven't got another midwife appointment till after the holiday do I need to ring them up and tell them?

@sarahspeedy87 no your still under the 28 week period so your fine and you don’t need a fit to fly letter either. I flew at 32 weeks a month ago and all was fine,we got insurance with insurance and go,didn’t have to
Declare pregnancy xx

@LucyLou19 thanks for the advice. But you didn't have to declare it to the insurance or the airline?

I'm flying next week at 29 weeks pregnant and returning at 31 weeks. My insurance explicitly covers complications of pregnancy so you don't have to declare it.

If you’re going to America make sure you have damn good insurance. There are specialist pregnancy travel insurers. It needs to cover situations such as a premature birth where you might be covered, but the baby wouldn’t be.

@sarahspeedy nope! Didn’t declare to airline or insurance most insurances cover you and the unborn baby or if it’s born there insures them too. Your only 26 weeks so you’ll be fine you don’t even need a fit to fly letter at that stage. Insure and go are fab xx

I flew from Australia to Manchester at 21 weeks and back at 23. The outgoing flight was horrendous!!!! Turbulence meant the seat belt signs were on for the majority of the first half (10.5hrs) and you could only get up to use the loo before being told you had to go back to your seat. By the second half my legs hurt and I was so paranoid (first pregnancy). Coming back was fine though, I got extra leg room and a row to myself so could stretch out. Just get up and walk around as much as you can and drink lots of water.

I flew London - Stockholm - Doha - Melbourne at nearly 26 weeks; Melbourne - Perth - Jakarta - Colombo at 27 weeks and then Colombo - London at nearly 29 weeks.

I bought my own compression socks, flew business for the lie flat beds/extra leg room, drank plenty of water and moved around lots, as PPs have recommended. We also checked our insurance would cover every eventuality too. I was asked for a fit to fly letter from one of the airlines and I was 25+6 (this was Qatar) so it may be worth double checking as each airline has different policies and you don't want to be told at the gate you can't fly!

I flew from the U.K. to Canada at 18 weeks and back at 20 weeks. Economy on the outbound (a daytime flight), Premium Economy on the return (overnight). I was absolutely fine (low risk pregnancy), but you should sensibly take the following precautions:

• definitely buy flight socks and put them on about 30 mins before take off ie the minute you board the plane;
• take a bottle of water with you and accept water/juice every single time the cabin crew bring round trays of drinks;
• for the 1st time in your life, don’t aim to get tons of sleep on the flight - you need to get up and stretch (do some stretches near the toilets or the galley) every couple of hours;
• do regular ankle stretches and leg raises at your seat (eg every hour);
• wear comfy joggers ie nothing too tight on the waist or legs;

I should also add, I have an annual travel policy with Direct Line and when I checked with them they said pregnancy was covered as standard.

Thanks for the advice everyone, all really useful hints and tips x