Fitness to fly note

[Tam00]

Hi all.

Any advise is greatly appreciated.

I am currently 28 weeks pregnant and due to fly abroad at 30 weeks. My pregnancy is low risk with no complications or health risks. The flight is very short and brief.

Been told to go through local GP and GP have said they don't do this and to go through my midwife however midwife says otherwise.

How often do airlines ask for these fitness to fly letters ? I feel i am at a dead end and no idea what to do with all the back and forth information.

Many thanks.

I flew with at 30weeks and was asked on both flights for the letter. On the return flight the head of the cabin crew came to double check where I was sitting 😜

Hi OP. Where abouts are you? I required a fit to fly note back in July when travelling at 33 weeks.

I am in Wales and my GP provided one, if was very easy to obtain and was shown on both flights.

At the time the baby had ectopic heartbeats and I was worried that the GP wouldn't provide one but my consultant advised me that if there were any issue with the GP the head midwife in the antenatal clinic could provide one. Is this a possibility?

I always found it odd that the GP provided fit to fly notes even though your mifwife leads in your care during pregnancy.

I have the same: the midwife told me to look online and there are companies that provide them. I haven't got one yet as it's not close enough to the date of flying, but it's the only option I can see.

Our GP does these (for a fee).

How would the airlines know exactly how far along i am as they only ask for a fitness to fly letter and not how far along we actually are so technically we can say we are however many weeks..

There is no paperwork to show how far along we are other than out maternity certificates.

Oh and thankyou all for the replies.🙂

Literally jumping through hoops here and getting nowhere.

@tam00 the fit to fly paper will specify your due date and how many weeks you are. It will also state that you are low risk, if that's the case and that they are happy for you to fly.

i flew abroad at 29 weeks and home at 30. my midwife just gave me a letter no questions asked. I wasn't asked on my outbound flight but on my return flight the check in lady asked to see a note as i clearly looked very visibly pregnant. I believe you also need a note for insurance purposes.

My midwife said she's not advised to do these and to go through my GP but they don't do this either. She has emailed them requesting a fitness to fly letter however they could refuse this request. Absolutely baffled! Literally being told conflicting information. My GP reception team have said they've received the email from my midwife and it's been passed on to the relevant team who will then take a few days to process if they decide to do so.

Is it worth trying to contact the head midwife like somebody on here suggested? It can't be this difficult surely to get a fitness to fly letter with a pregnancy like mine- low risk with everything looking normal. I'm well within the safe flying time.

This is odd as I had to get two for back to back trips at 28-30 weeks. My midwife did them both for me although I was never asked by the airline. Tbh I just wore a baggy sweatshirt anyway and no one really asked

Tell me about it. Just spoke to head midwife at my antenatal clinic and she's completely baffled that my GP don't do this. She just said to make an appointment with my doctor and to request it in person because midwifes aren't authorized to provide fitness to fly letters.

I'm so furious! How can it be this hard???

Ridiculous. I would be quite insistent that they provide one. Otherwise I’d just wear a big sweatshirt and carry your hospital notes! It’s not actually required I don’t think so I don’t think they’d deny you boarding or anything

GPs don’t have to do these but they can. It’s not an NHS service so will cost money (usually £30-50). Your GP can decline as it’s private work and you can try a private GP to get one. They can’t state you are “fit to fly” but can state how many weeks and whether it is single pregnancy/twins and if there are any complications that may impact on flying.

There’s an online service that does them.
When I was flying while pregnant it seemed like they basically guessed based on how big your bump was. So unless you have a tiny bump I’d get one if I were you, unless you have another document that proves what week you are in.

So weird your midwife won’t do them. I’m based in Scotland, not sure where you are or if it’s different?
she actually said she was so pleased so finally be doing a fit to fly note as They hadn’t been requested much due to covid so it sounds like my midwife has always done them. Wish it was the same everywhere!

I know right? My bump isn't very big however it is obvious I'm pregnant. I probably could get away with baggy clothing tbh. I could go private but why should i have to pay when I'm being told GPs can do this? I feel great with no complications or anything. All my checks with midwife are perfectly normal. The private GP quotes I've got are ridiculous! My flight is only couple of hours long and I'm going for 3days. Even the head midwife at my antenatal clinic was baffled that my GP don't do this.

I've now been i can indeed make an appointment with my GP and ask them directly (was told i couldn't before!)

May i ask which online service you used please?

At this rate, baggy clothing may be my only option!

I didn’t get one, but wished I had! There are some if you Google.

This isn’t NHS work so GPs are under no obligation to do them. Some may choose to offer it as a private service.

Sounds stressful.

You would still have to pay if your GP did it because it’s not on the NHS.

It was 3 years ago so might have changed but my midwife wrote mine for me, she had a template and she just filled in my details. But I wasn't asked to show it on either flight and I was quite big

But surely I'd have to take my coat off when walking through security? Do security ask for fitness to fly letter or is it the airline when boarding the plane?
I don't think my baggy clothing would be enough, my coat however would do the job.