Can I travel to India for 2 weeks at 13/14 weeks pregnancy?

[connyrabbit]

Hi all,

Here's my dilemma:

• I have just found out I am 5 weeks pregnant
• I lost a baby 4 months ago (found out at 1st scan that he had been dead for 4 weeks).
• I was sick 4/5 times a day that first time - I am not sick yet for this second one but too early to say
• I am supposed to be going to a wedding in Dehli and two weeks subsequent holiday in Northern India in mid-November. That will be during 13th/14th week of preg.

How risky is it to do this sort of trip (heat, travelling from place to place, health/food risks...) when you're before your 3rd month?
That is without mentioning that there is a high chance that I will be very sick again... Please tell me that you don't have to be so horribly sick at each pregnancy!

I don't want to call the whole trip off because this is our big holiday for this year we've been planning it for months (no hotels booked yet though) and my husband would be too disappointed (and so would I).
We are really not at the stage where we are so excited to have a baby that we would change everything in our lives for it (that will come, I'm sure)!

In short - can I go there without too much risk for the baby and me, and also enjoy it?

Thanks pals!

Conny

You were lucky- my frind was atatcked as the train was massively over booked and she became separated from the group, she was found unconscious on the reacka nd carried up by Prof.

She was v v lucky!

I stayed 3 months in south india a few years ago.

Dodgy electricity is a good point, in terms of freezers and food. But, many restaurants also defrost and refreeze meat, fish and chicken numerous times, in anticipation of more customers than they actually get. Especially where tourists go.... This includes big hotels and good restaurants. They do not believe in wasting food.

I had food posioning three times, and on each occasion it was after eating chicken. My husband had it only once.

So I decided to go vegetarian, which was a good choice as there is so much delicious vegetarian dishes, and nobody bats an eyelid if you say you are vegetarian.

I stayed 3 months in south india a few years ago.

Dodgy electricity is a good point, in terms of freezers and food. But, many restaurants also defrost and refreeze meat, fish and chicken numerous times, in anticipation of more customers than they actually get. Especially where tourists go.... This includes big hotels and good restaurants. They do not believe in wasting food.

I had food posioning three times, and on each occasion it was after eating chicken. My husband had it only once.

So I decided to go vegetarian, which was a good choice as there is so much delicious vegetarian dishes, and nobody bats an eyelid if you say you are vegetarian.

sorry about double post.

the main problem is that alot of people who go over to india get sickness and diarrhea and this in pregnancy can cause miscarraige not all the time but is a known risk i wouldn't personally go but you say its your only big holiday talk to hv about the risks and then see if your big holiday would be worth the chance for you it is up to you but yes india would be very risky

Well, you can get sick anywhere you go really.

I was 11 weeks pregnant when I went to Morocco for a two weeks holiday with my husband. We stayed in a 5 star hotel, so I presumed food was safe. But it might have been the sea.... I got a parasite infection, the diaorrhea was so bad the doctor initially thought it was cholera, I was that sick. I was unable to leave the bed, I was suffering continuous stomach cramps.

The doctor told me that the fetus in a way was acting like a parasite on my body, in the sense that it would get all the nourishment it needed taken from my fat reserves, it would make me feel a lot weaker and more ill, but the baby came first, so I should not worry. The illness would not affect the baby. But, that is how it was in my situation. I wanted to go home earlier, but the doc advised against it, saying moroccon doctors was more skilled in treating local illnesses as they knew their parasites and symptoms a lot better than a uk doctor, which was true.

Back to India. I have been to hospital in India on at least 9 occasions (for myself, my son and my husband) and in different locations through south india, and I cannot fault Indian doctors on the medical care. I have nothing but good experiences with the Indian health service. If you do get ill, you are likely to get good care.

Ah not me

benefits of a cruise shp no 1 LOL

Connie

went to india non pg. My advice, if you are going is:
Its good you havent booked your hotel yet - book as good a one as you can afford, budget places will have worse hygiene, more likely to have holes in mosquito hets etc.

I wasnt pg, but when I got diarreah (sp?) I didnt take medication - its best to get the bad bugs out of your system faster, not block them in! Drink lots of water or sugary drinks (not fruit juice tho) and plain foods.

Hi conny -

Just found this thread - if you are still thinking of going then here's a few tips from when I went last year (albeit not pregnant). We travelled widely during our 3 weeks there and didn't get ill at all (apart from a bit of diarrhea one night because of some very hot chillis - so maybe just avoid things that are too spicy!)

The things we did were:

• we spent slightly more than bargain basement prices on our food (which in India means something like £5 rather than £2 for the two of you!)
• we ate vegetarian food all the time to avoid any problems with meat/seafood - not a problem in India as veggie food is incredibly varied and delicious and healthy and you can easily get protein from paneer, eggs and dhal
• in addition to only ever having bottled water that we opened ourselves, we also drank lots of mango juice which you can get really easily in cartons, as that was a great way to get our vitamins, and soda water
• the chai which you get from streetsellers was great as pick-me-up - hot sweet milky tea, sometimes with a bit of spice like cardamom. Boiling water plus canned milk so no real hygiene risk there
• apart from the chai, we didn't buy street food unless it was cooked from scratch (not just reheated) right in front of us (a delicious morning chapati and omelette breakfast in Jodhpur springs to mind!)

You just need to be fairly sensible and you'll be fine. Also bear in mind that a bit of diarrhea does not necessarily mean that you have caught a bug. It can just be a reaction to some of the spices in the food, e.g. chilli. So lots of water and plainish food like rice and dhal should see you back on track.

If you go - have fun - if not, India will always be there waiting to be explored It is a wonderful, wonderful place, and we can't wait until our baby (due in March) is old enough to come with us!