Flying with a low lying placenta

[HE93C]

Hi,
I am currently due to go on holiday in a couple of weeks and will be around 31 weeks pregnant.

At my 20 week scan I was advised my placenta is 1.8cm away from the birth canal, and anything within 2cm is classed as low lying.

my midwife has advised me to check with my airline and insurer who have told me I am fine to fly but said might be best getting a fit to fly note.

has anyone else been in a similar situation and were you advised not to fly etc?

It is for a wedding in Spain so I can’t change dates or go somewhere in England instead etc.

thanks
x

I think you should get a fit to fly letter as advised.

You’ll need a fit to fly as you are over 28 weeks?
I flew with a low lying placenta at 31 weeks but I did get a private scan prior which told me that my placenta had moved.
I was also borderline low like you so there is a good chance it’s already moved out the way.

have you experience any issues with the placenta so far such as bleeding? I hadn’t and didn’t and my midwife was all very causal about it tbf.

I have low lying placenta and my hospital says standard advice in that trust (not sure if they said nationally) is not to fly due to risk of heavy bleeding in third trimester especially and if you’re in the air obviously you can’t get any medical attention so could risk your and baby’s life - obviously worse case scenario. The consultant reiterated this. Midwives wouldn’t sign fit to fly. So I would try and speak to a consultant before you go to get advice on your specific situation?

it may well have moved up by now as lots do but tricky for you to know as assume your scan to check is not until 32 weeks?

It must be different as I got a fit to fly from my midwife at 30 weeks, returning 31 weeks with a low lying placenta at my 20wk scan. I was then scanned at 32 weeks. i booked my own private scan prior to flying for my own peace of mind.

I was told not to fly by a consultant and tbh i wouldn't have risked it anyway.

I did have other complications too

I was told never to be more than 20 minutes travel from a hospital, and not to fly.

Absolutely do not fly! I had a huge bleed at 34 weeks and an emergency c section. The bleed came out of nowhere, one second I was fine and 15 minutes later I was in hospital. It's not worth the risk in my opinion.

Can you get a scan before you go to see if it's moved? It very likely has if already 1.8cm away. Mine was touching at 20 weeks, and at around 29 weeks it had moved over 2cm away. By birth it was up at baby's shoulder, no where near.

It did cause me complications until it moved and def couldn't have flown, would have been fine later on.

I'm a Midwife and it would be completely against policy to sign a fit to fly letter for a woman with a low lying placenta. If anything were to happen in the air you'd be really at risk. And accessing care in a foreign country brings many challenges.
You need a fit to fly letter in the 28th week with some airlines like Ryanair.

My airline doesn’t require fly and can fly up to 34 weeks however due to the placenta I was thinking of getting one just for insurance purposes and ease of mind etc.

The midwife said fine to fly as long as following the requirements of the airline and the insurance however they don’t do the fit to fly, I will have to get this from my GP.

I am due to travel in 2 weeks and have booked a private scan for Saturday morning just to see if they can tell me if it’s moved or not, as mentioned it only needed to move 2mm so fingers crossed.

for reference I have no other issues and have been told I am a low risk pregnancy. Will update after the scan on Saturday! Thanks for all of the advise and thoughts so far x

I honestly would consider if it's worth the risk. You are absolutely not having a low risk pregnancy with a low lying placenta. It's no joke.

All the other posts are surprising me. I’m flying next week when I’ll be 29 weeks and have low lying placenta. I’ve repeatedly asked the hospital whether it’s okay to fly as a sonographer at a 16 week private scan said it might not be, and they’ve each time said it’s completely fine. Midwife wrote me a fit to fly note. Why is advice so different elsewhere im
worried now

Only thing I can think of is that some are lower than others? I was told absolutely not. I wasn't even allowed to swim.

I ended up blue lighted to hospital at 31 weeks with a massive bleed and stayed in for 2 weeks. I was allowed home after then if <20 mins from the hospital. My placenta was completely covering though so I was high risk. I had another at 36 weeks and DD born via CS.

hopefully your scan will confirm it has moved but I definitely wouldn’t fly without a FTF note.

good luck 🤞

I wasn’t allowed to do housework - that was a bonus 😉

Now this is one perk 😂

Yeah I understand that if it is covering slightly or even completely then it is considered much more of a risk but because it was 1.8mm away at first scan (hopefully more when I go on Saturday) I’m wondering if the risk is considerably lower.

they didn’t tell me not to do anything at first so I carried on going to the gym, weights, Hyrox etc and then I asked them later on and they said I probably shouldn’t do that so I’ve stopped but even then they didn’t seem too concerned!

hopefully it has moved on Saturday and I will contact GP next week either way for a FTF note.

I hope it works out for you OP. We’re all different. For me, my baby would be far too precious to take a chance on. I think the thread is pretty much 50/50. 🤞🏻 for you.

I know you probably meant it sincerely, and I’m quite thick skinned so not offended, but thought it worth noting that when people share their opinions and put things like “for me my baby would be too precious” it can come across quite condescending, obviously everyone on this thread cares about their babies and a lot of people have chosen to still fly. I don’t think we need to belittle other people’s choices in order to give our opinions.

I genuinely believe your comment came out of a place of care but there are a few similar type things on this thread and just wanted to make a point of saying that although people mean well, it might not always feel that way to the recipient.

no hate from me, just trying to look out for people 🩷

Although I would never say or mean that you don't care enough, my comment is probably one you deem 'similar'

To be brutally honest, a low lying placenta is serious stuff as you can see from the midwife who replied. I did alot of research after cancelling my own holiday and it's just really not worth the risk in my opinion.

I don’t want to pick on specific comments, I’m just trying to say I was asking for opinions or people who have been in similar situations but maybe less of the judgemental undertones.

I appreciate that a midwife on here has said not to, however, I have also been told by my midwives who are aware of my case that I am ok to fly - and that I am a low risk pregnancy.

I was just wanting to hear from people who have been in that position.

Just to know that if you had a bleed while abroad you could end up on bed rest/hospital admission abroad for the rest of your pregnancy and baby delivered by c section abroad, along with any potential complications in a foreign language. I had a complete placenta previa and did travel earlier in the pregnancy because I didn't properly understand the risk. Once I was self admitted at 36 weeks and met the women who had been on the ward for weeks or even months, waiting to deliver after a bleed, I realised what a risk I had taken. I wasn't let leave the hospital at that stage in case I had a bleed. I never bled once in the end, so I think I underestimated the risk.

But you did pick on specific comments - mine 🤔🤷‍♀️
I genuinely can’t see why you picked on mine? It’s my personal opinion, I said how everyone is different, the thread being 50/50 shows this, and I wished you luck 🤷‍♀️
#confused

I didn’t pick on yours it was just the last one before I replied, I was saying how I felt yours came from a place of care but was just trying to highlight how some of the wording might make others feel.

Didn’t expect it to turn into a digging match 🤷🏽‍♀️

I think there are differing levels of severity of a low lying placenta including placenta previa which is quite different and where the advice is much more black and white vs what the OP has. My low lying placenta was similar, around 1.9cm away from cervix, needs to be 2cm to be not deemed low, and the sonographer hummed and hawed about mine as to whether it was low or not. Both the sonographer and midwives were very very casual about it, deemed me low risk, signed fit to flys at both 22 and 30 weeks pregnant and never ever told me to abstain from sex, exercise, etc.

as I mentioned prior to my flight at 30 weeks I did get a private scan just to check the placenta for my own peace of mind and it was way clear.
I guess it depends on how low the placenta is, whether it’s covering / touching the cervix etc.