Whether it’s for business or a babymoon, women don’t stop travelling when they’re expecting. (Just look at Beyoncé!)
So Skyscanner Australia gathered top tips from top travel bloggers and frequent flyers to help pregnant women travel safely and stress-free.
Before you go
Many women need to travel for work while pregnant and the concept of babymoons (where mothers-to-be head off with their partner or girlfriends for some R&R before the birth) are becoming so popular, many holiday companies are tailoring packages specifically for this market.
Planning to travel while pregnant, though, takes more confidence than usual.
“Don’t be put off by naysayers”, says Char Taylor, blogger at Taylor Hearts Travel.
She and her bump travelled to The Netherlands, Nice, Cannes, Orlando, Gozo and Barcelona despite many people she spoke to assuming she would stop travelling while expecting.
Hetal Vasavada, mother and business owner from San Francisco, agrees. “You only have a few more months with you and your partner so why not spend it making travel memories?”
When to go
Every pregnancy is different but generally, women are advised to book travel during their second trimester as many experience sickness and nausea in the first 12 weeks.
After week 28 of pregnancy some airlines require a letter from your doctor or midwife confirming your due date, and that you are safe to fly. Generally it’s best to seek medical advice before travelling at any stage of pregnancy but Frankie from As The Bird Flies says to listen to yourself too.
Top Comments
I'd stay be home and not travelling by 23 weeks (viable).
You can deliver a premmie this early, this suddenly and without any prior warnings. It happened to me at 26 weeks. I'd had a smooth as silk pregnancy with no issues. If my baby had come 2 weeks prior I'd have still been in New Zealand with him where he'd have had to have been placed in NICU for many, many long months, both of us separated from his dad. It happens. It happened to a Queensland couple late late year in fact. I wouldn't chance it after 23 weeks.
I flew at 24 weeks in my first pregnancy and 34 weeks in my second. Both babies were born slightly early, but not earlier than 39 weeks. If you have had one premmie though, you are more prone to have another, so your precaution is completely valid!