Airplane travel in early pregnancy

[Newmummy95]

Hi everyone

I am looking to go on holiday abroad in 4 weeks time by which time I wilL be around 8 weeks pregnant.

some people have advised me it’s not safe to travel by plane so early pregnant but nhs guidelines say it’s safe to travel until later pregnancy

has anyone travelled by plane during this stage of their pregnancy ? Is it safe or
not ?

Who are the 'some people' that know better than the NHS? Of course it's safe or airlines and health authorities wouldn't allow it.

I flew both short and long haul at 6 weeks and 8 weeks, and medium haul at 27 and 27 weeks.

Absolutely fine. Why wouldn't it be?

I travelled to Sri-Lanka when I was 8 weeks pregnant. Was fine. Just drank lots of fluids and made sure I regularly stretched my legs (with lots of trips to the toilet).

I think during the first trimester it’s best not to overthink/worry too much. At this stage, the pregnancy might go ahead successfully or it might not, and there’s not much you can do or not do to impact the outcome. Obviously follow NHS guidelines regarding foods/drinks to avoid, but other than that, life has to go on. Congrats on your pregnancy!

Are people saying it's not safe to fly or that you might not be well enough to fly?

It's safe to fly but I'd have had a terrible holiday at 8 weeks, that was peak morning sickness / fatigue time for me. Maybe they're more worried about that? Hopefully you'll sail through the first trimester though!

Yes, I travelled constantly for work at that stage. I flew 12 hours to Latin America at 10 weeks and returned at just short of 12 weeks. And kept flying up to 34.5 weeks (34 was cut off but I had to finish a week long international negotiation and had blessing of my Dr to do that, and letter, and was prepared to train/ferry myself home if necessary).

Dd has just done her graduation from secondary school this week!

I flew at 8 weeks for a girls trip then again at 24 weeks.. no issues, but I would say keep hydrated and try and get an aisle seat as I was up and down to the loo an awful lot..enjoy your break

It’s absolutely fine, just make sure you keep moving and stay hydrated.

DH is a pilot, the only reason they don’t want you flying later is in case you go into labour during the flight where you won’t have medical assistance!!

It is officially safe.

However during pregnancy you have an increased risk of blood clots.

Flights increase everyone's risk of blood clots.

So flight + pregnancy increases your blood clot risk. But it's minuscule.

Take precautions such as flight socks, doing exercises during the flight & getting up as much as possible.

i wouldn’t myself as I’m paranoid after a miscarriage, I wouldn’t want to be away from home. But it’s safe to fly. If I were you I’d get a private scan to rule out ectopic pregnancy. Also a risk you develop nausea/sickness over next few weeks.

Flying is not dangerous to your pregnancy. The things to consider are if you get nausea/sickness then travelling could be very unpleasant for you, and if you were to miscarry how you would cope (the second is more of a worry for me if I am travelling for work and my partner isn't there for support).

I'm flying to Portugal on Thursday at 9 weeks and then going on to a week in Spain where I'll be 10 weeks, returning a few days before my 12 week scan. I honestly haven't given the flying bit a second thought. People like to talk nonsense, often without any evidence to back it up so just go on your holiday and enjoy yourself.

I flew at 8 weeks, it's not unsafe, just really shit if you have pregnancy nausea.

Where are you going? Listeria is dangerous especially in the first trimester so if anywhere less developed than the UK, be careful not to get food poisoning as it can cause miscarriage.

I flew out at 3 weeks (yes possibly not even pregnant at that point) and flew back at 6 weeks. The only issue was some dizzy spells, luckily my nausea and sickness didn’t start until 7+ weeks.

I flew regularly for work until my third trimester. I had my baby on Friday and she’s just perfect. The only thing that became an issue was my size and waiting in line but you won’t have that issue so early on. I actually knew I was pregnant because I fell asleep on a 0650 flight that I took regularly and never slept on! I was offered priority boarding a few times because of my noticeable bump which was nice.