Travel Insurance to 36 weeks?

[MrsUSAinUK]

Hi all - I'm hoping to take a trip to the States for a big family holiday in late November, when I'll be 34/35 weeks depending on the EDD's I've gotten. However, my current travel insurance provider only covers pregnancy/childbirth up to 32 weeks. Does anyone know of a current travel insurance provider who covers up to 36 weeks for low-risk pregnancies? The only info I can find by search is outdated, unfortunately.

Thanks in advance!

Stay at home!
Even if you could get insurance to cover yourself, if you gave birth early you would likely find that DC was not covered as not named on policy.
Prioritise your own and your baby's health by not risking travel in late pregnancy.

Thanks @Redburnett - this is clearly something I've already considered and will be happy making a smart choice about with all the information I have from my midwives and my husband.

Anyone with suggestions on travel insurance carriers?

I travelled in both my pregnancies to the limit of the airline which was 35 weeks. For my travel insurance which was standard, it said I didn’t need additional travel insurance as I was pregnant as they didn’t class pregnancy a medical condition.

However, I would really advise you to double check the dates you’ll be flying as many airlines have a cut off for you to be able to fly and by 34 weeks you’ll really really be feeling the pregnancy and it will be pretty awful if you end up giving birth overseas, especially in America where healthcare is so expensive anyway. Most airlines won’t let you travel beyond 35 weeks anyway but if you do decide to go, make sure you get a fit to fly letter from your midwife as they’ll likely check.

Will the airline let you fly at 36 weeks to the states?

anyway, I’m with @Redburnett . Completely bonkers. Don’t risk it.

BUT, if you do, remember you don’t just need travel insurance for you, you will also need travel insurance for the baby. Because as soon as they are born they are a whole separate person with a whole separate medical bill and you don’t want to be paying that.

You will need an insurance policy which covers not only the birth if you go into premature labour but also covers :

hospitalisation for you and the baby if there are post partum issues. this might need to include SCBU care for the baby if they need it.

accomodation/ flights for your family /you if the baby is hospitalised and you are discharged from hospital

medical repatriation flights if the baby or you need them.

Good luck finding an insurance broker willing to take you on for a couple of hundred quid policy that could cost them a million! Don’t rely on a go fund me if you don’t find a policy that covers all your needs.

Unless you're American, the US won't let you in that close to your due date.

America is one of the few countries where just being born there gives you citizenship. Having an 'anchor baby' is a well known tactic to legally migrate to the US easily. It means they are careful about letting very pregnant women in.

You will probably need a “fit to fly” letter from midwife/GP, insurance companies to try are Staysure, Allcleartravel, Goodtogo insurance.

I booked travel insurance through InsureAndGo. I chose them because they cover premature labour up to the end of the 32nd week, which was when I was due to go abroad. So if you were to give birth at 34 weeks I don’t think they’d cover the additional care that your baby would/might need and to be honest I think you’ll be lucky to find a travel insurance provider that will.

However they did assure me that if I gave birth abroad then my baby would be covered too. This was Europe though, which may make a difference so don’t take my word for it. They would also have paid for me to remain abroad with her (for a set length of time) but not her dad I don’t think.

Obviously it’s your decision to make, but I missed my holiday (had to go to hospital from the airport) as I had some bleeding and they were concerned I was in early labour. I wouldn’t travel abroad after about 24 weeks now, personally.

@Twizbe - yes, both my husband and I are American so the baby will be a citizen no matter where it is born.

@viques - we're absolutely expecting to pay a fair price for the cover, and do see it as worth it. just a matter of finding someone who will offer cover, if possible. and no, of course, we would never rely on a gofundme for a choice that we made and consequences thereof.

@PotteringAlonggotkickedoutandhadtoreregister and @Honaloulou - there are actually a number of airlines who would allow me to make that flight at that time: upgradedpoints.com/travel/airlines/flying-while-pregnant-guide/. I appreciate that you wouldn't make the trip yourself.

@ShirleyPhallus - thanks for the very helpful and kind comments.

I travelled through the US at 36 weeks. Was going from Canada to UK via Iceland. I had to clear U.S. Customs, nobody blinked.

Id look at getting travel insurance via your bank as mine told me they didn’t have upper limits in terms of pregnancy. Also it covered dependant children so child could be added.

You'll probably need a fairly specialist insurer so might be better to approach an insurance broker you can speak to rather than anything mainstream. A few things to consider in current climate:

• Airlines have cut off dates for flying- if you are not fit to fly for any reason on your return you could end up missing that cut off date.

• Covid risk & not being able to fly as planned

• airline cancellation and delay -even if it is the airlines fault you can't fly when you should once you go beyond the cut off they won't fly you.

There's a possibility that you might have issues entering the US when so visibly pregnant - they still dole out passports (and work permits) to anyone who delivers a baby on US soil so have other ways to try and limit those numbers. Entry is allowed or denied at the discretion of the admitting US customs officer.

Travel is fraught with difficulty at the moment and I wouldn't bank on things changing anytime soon

Sorry, just seen you are both American so that changes some but not all the issues.

absolutely - i've spoken with my midwives and they've booked me in for just before and just after the planned trip for checkups and fit to fly letter. thanks!

If you buy an InsureandGo family policy, new babies are automatically covered if they're born prematurely. This was the only policy I could find that would cover me and the baby if I went into labour early. Not sure what weeks they'll cover you to fly though.

@Mindymomo @NeedMoreMilk @womaninatightspot @TheTeenageYears thank you all so much for your thoughts/experiences/recommendations! I'll look into all the providers and approaches you've suggested.

It does change things somewhat you both being American, do you already have an American healthcare policy in place?

couldn't get anyone to I sure me past 32 weeks because they deemed it a natural part of pregnancy. I was told I had to claim under health insurance if I went into labour abroad before my due date.

Insure and Go and Allclear are both good with high risk or complicated policy holders. I've flown twice at 34 weeks, within Europe and the only issues were the fit to fly letter and which carrier to use, but you have that covered!