Travel at 37 weeks - crazy?

[Snowfalls108]

So I'm in the early days of pregnancy, but thinking ahead. Obviously things could all go wrong, but touch wood!

My friend is getting married in the south of France when I'll be 37 weeks. I'm meant to be giving a reading, and she's hiring a villa for 12 of us (including DH) to stay in for the week before.

Am I crazy to be contemplating going? I would travel down by train (with a friend), DH would fly down the next day as he's got work, and we would ship all our bags seperately.

Plus points to me are chance to have a week in a villa in the south of France, bob around in the pool, be looked after by friends and the cook who they've got in.
Cons - will I want to move anywhere at that stage? What happens if I go into labour?

As you can tell it's my first time at all this and any advice would be appreciated.
I will obviously take doctors advice too, but would be nice to hear from those who have been there done that!

is this your first baby? i'm making assumptions only because i feel you really have no idea of how you will be feeling at that time until that time comes - chances are you will not feel remotely like going, you will be the size of a house, have piles (!) and only be interested in cleaning your house. I really wouldn't....

I really wouldn't, sorry

I felt perfectly well at this stage of pregnancy, but then had my first baby at 37 weeks exactly, second at 36 weeks

Due date is just an estimate, 'normal' pregnancy lasts between 37 and 42 weeks, 6 - 10% of babies born before 37 weeks

Even if you do feel well, there is still a reasonable chance of you going into labour. I'm feeling a bit anxious imagining my waters breaking on Eurostar...

I really do think the main thing is how you feel, how tired you are, if you want to stay close to home and if everything is medically well etc every pregnancy is different with some of mine just getting out of bed in the last weeks was an effort with others including my last one right up to the day I went into labour I was fine

Its not like you are planning travelling somewhere remote miles away from medical care, you are coming to a country that provides medical care that is a very high standard, yes its a different laguage but most french speak some english.

As long as you make provisions in case you go into labour you will be fine,

Just one observation from all this.

It seems that the people who have travelled late in pregnancy and the people who have given birth overseas (or have close friends and family who have) are mostly the ones saying 'if you want to go, plan well and thoroughly and get advice and checks nearer the time - if you have the baby there, it will probably be more challenging, but if your heart is set on the wedding, go'.

My cousin lives in France and I will be staying with her at 35 weeks. Maybe the French system is a little different than the English but it is still first class care compared to much of the world. Her gynacologist is 20mins away. If I have any heart rate issues or any twinges, I will be straight off to see him, just as in England I would be straight off to see my midwife. If all is not well, I would happily go into hospital there, much as I would go straight to one here. I was going to the loo on average every 2 hours at 37 weeks - hardly going to put her out too much.

It is France, our next door country, within the European Union, not Outer Mongolia.

Snowfalls, everyone on here is talking about the labour, but I really don't think that is your issue. Agree with others France is a first world country and medical care will be great.

My concerns are what happens after the birth? How are you going to get back with a brand new baby? Car? Train? What about a carseat / cot? What happens when you need to feed every 2 or 3 hours for upto an hour at a time? What about afterpains (trust me, they can really hurt)? What about the bleeding? And not to mention how sore you might be downstairs - trust me sitting is an art after you've given birth.

I am sure you can go through labour OK, I am sure the baby would be born OK. Think very carefully about how hard it would be afterwards. If its your first DC, I definitely would not. I don't know anyone who has managed to get dressed in the first few days at home, let alone travel many hundreds of miles.

I know you are sad not to be there- but honestly, make it easy on yourself.

Hi.

We have a holiday booked in the south of France for May, I will be 36/37 weeks at this time too. I already have 1 son who was born on time. I have got my EH1C Card, which covers you for any treatment in the EU that you would get on the NHS. We are trying Ravenhall Insurance for extra travel cover, but you have to contact them by phone.
Just because you are having a baby does not mean that you cannot do these things. Just find a seat near the Loo and think about the nice time that you will have.... How dissapointed would you be to miss it?
My Husbands Cousin went to France specifically to have her 1st child born there, due to the excellent Maternity care they provide... Just find out how far the local maternity unit is from where you are staying. Good Luck and enjoy...

So I know it's a little late for the first poster but I found this thread useful when I was asking the question myself and thought I'd share my experience:

After much consideration, I travelled to the South of France (Cannes) from London when I was 37 + 3 and back when I was 38 + 4. I went by train, stopping in Paris overnight (where I luckily have a friend I can stay with): it was 2.5 hour journey to Paris and 5 hour journey to Cannes. And so nice to be able to have a proper holiday before having the baby!

Thoughts:

• we made sure it was covered by insurance and were prepared to cancel right at the last minute if I were worried or uncomfortable. My OH made sure there was no pressure on me to go if I didn't want to, even if it wouldn't have been covered;
• I had a low risk pregnancy and my dr was happy for me to travel;
• I translated my birth plan into (bad) French and made sure I had some basic words ready. I also looked into suitable hospitals in both Paris and Cannes and made sure my insurance covered childbirth in a foreign country and I had my EHIC card;
• I took my ready-packed hospital bag as my luggage;
• I had someone who was fluent in French prepped in case I needed them to speak on the phone to a dr at any point.

My thoughts were that plenty of women have babies in France all the time and it should be fine. I had been warned - and was prepared - that their approach is very medical (apparently you'll probably be put on your back, in a bed, legs in stirrups and given an epidural) so the birth plan was probably unnecessary, but I was ok with that (and I'm sure it's different hospital to hospital). I was also warned that they actively discourage you from breastfeeding ("as breasts need to be kept nice for your husband"!) so was prepared to insist on that (again, not sure if that's true though). If you do have a baby in France, they apparently keep you in hospital for 5 days afterwards, whether you like it or not. I actually found that quite reassuring but again we needed to make sure our return journey was covered by insurance, in case we therefore needed to postpone it.

My worries were that if something went wrong, I wouldn't know what was going on. That's why I had a friend prepped ready to take a call and talk to a dr. My other worry was that if I did have the baby, I'd have to travel back with a newborn! I anticipated that would be more difficult that travelling pregnant but I don't know if my worries are correct. You also need to make sure they'd be able to come back (check with the British Embassy re passports)!

As it was, I was completely fine! But then my baby was late and I had to be induced at 41 + 5, so in retrospect it was extra unlikely anything would happen. At the time I found sitting the most comfortable position so the 5 hours was fine (and you could get up and walk around regularly). It was fun to go on an adventure!

I wouldn't do it if you'd be at all nervous or worried, but only because that wouldn't be very pleasant. And obviously it is different for all women and you'll know your own body, your pregnancy, your comfort levels and your stress levels.

It was quite tiring, but not enough to wipe out the good a holiday did me!

Beyond Paris, French trains - even the TGVs can be real bone shakers. Have you factored in the stairs, escalators, lugging baggage about? At 36+ weeks you'll be lucky to be able to move off a sofa, let alone negotiate public transport in a foreign country, especially with the added frisson of not speaking the language.

So I'm afraid I'm in the stay at home camp too. Your friend should understand. They could always hold a special party when they're home and you're more mobile (and anyone else who couldn't come) so that you don't feel you've missed out. You could always do the reading then instead?

I didn't find the TGV particularly bone shaking at 37 and 38 weeks, though I might just have been lucky. In fact, I found it particularly comfortable! We chose the upper deck; maybe that made a difference?

I didn't find stairs, escalators or lugging baggage about too taxing, either, but didn't take much with me. I probably wouldn't do it alone though - my OH carried the bags onto the train, up any stairs and put in the luggage rack etc and it probably would have been too much for me to do alone.

I had worried I may not want to move anywhere at that point in my pregnancy, so we were prepared to cancel if that had been the case (we had checked this would be covered by our travel insurance). But actually I was still pretty mobile. Slow and cumbersome, but still out and about.

As mentioned in my earlier post, I would only do this if you feel comfortable about it at the time and you aren't nervous about any aspect of the trip. Everyone is different. But I did this 5 weeks ago and am so glad I did. Especially as I was late in the end (induced at 41 + 5) so had plenty of time to get impatient around the house when I returned!

I missed my DB's wedding 400 miles away but in uk because I was 36 weeks of. DB got married on the Sat, DS arrived on the Sunday. DNeph set me up a webcam. Would that be a possibility? Could you record your reading or do it by video link, award ceremony style?

In my case, because it was UK and we had plenty of "spare bed" options near the wedding we didn't have to commit until very close to the big day. From about 33 weeks on I would not have been at all comfortable with long journeys (it was the Aug/Sept of a very hot summer and I was achey and nauseous and wee-ing every 30 mins) and I do love weddings and family get togethers.

I imagine the logistics of bringing back a British baby "accidentally" born abroad may be tricky, even if we are still in the EU. Maybe look into this side of things before deciding?

I'm not sure your insurance would cover you at that point. Most insurance covers for premature delivery but at 37 weeks you are classed as full term. Only know this as I was looking to travel at 33 weeks recently and my insurance didn't even cover me at that point. Worst case scenario is you go into labour and are left with a huge medical bill. I'm not a risk averse person but I wouldn't be happy to travel at that point with no insurance.

I went to a wedding at 36 weeks, was supposed to be bridesmaid but thank goodness I pulled out. By the evening I was literally sobbing with exhaustion. I really wouldn't do it, and I'm a pretty adventurous traveller.

The EIHC covers your medical expenses but it will not cover things like rebooking transport or additional hotel time if you (or your dh) need to stay longer. It won't cover emergency repatriation if you need it although this is pretty unlikely at 36 weeks.

Are you completely sure about your dh's travel insurance? It's unlikely you'll be covered at 36 weeks as it would be considered a normal delivery, the pregnancy related travel insurance terms I've seen only cover "complications due to pregnancy" and going into non-premature labour is not a complication. But different policies have different time limits, mine is 6 weeks before full term you stop being covered.

That said, France is nice and having your baby there wouldn't be the end of the world. I'd consider going, especially if you're happy to book it and then change your mind later. I have felt fine with both of my pregnancies until around 39 weeks and would have no issue doing a long train journey at 36 weeks.

Zombie thread!

I went to a wedding 8h away in the UK at 37wks and suprised myself by being up at 2am dancing (must have been all the 10pm sleeps beforehand) and was pleased I had when baby turned up at 42wks. I'm not sure I'd have gone to a foreign wedding though, even in France despite being a fluent French speaker and having a lot of faith in the excellent French healthcare system. I do hear c sections are more common in France than the UK if at all relevant. If it was a sibling then yes (plus family around to visit if I did have to go to hospital) but not a friends. But if you can leave the decision to nearer the time then that sounds sensible - I was a lot more active and chipper at 37wks than my sister (on crutches) or antenatal classmates so how you feel will be important.