Traveling during pregnancy

aishmc · May 2016

Hey ladies! I've got a couple trips planned in the next few months where I'll be flying and I'm pretty anxious about it. I'm a very nervous flyer to begin with, but my handy Lorazepam is out of the question now. The first trip will just be a 3 hour flight to and from Texas to visit family at the beginning of June. I'll be flying with my cousin and grandparents, none of whom know I'm pregnant. In August, my husband and I are flying 10 hours to Ireland with short hour long flights to London and Paris as well. I normally get up to walk every hour when I fly to Ireland and I wear compression socks. Can anyone share their experiences or provide any advice for traveling while pregnant?

pshaortao · May 2016

DH and I traveled to Hawaii for a "babymoon" when I was around 25 weeks along,then I flew 4 hours each way to my hometown for my baby shower around 32 weeks. Travel was not a concern since I was very low risk. My OB preferred that I stay within an hour of the hospital in the last month in case I deliver early, and to stay in America by 32 weeks or somewhere around there.

ashanne88 · May 2016

You won't be too far along in either case, which is generally when air travel becomes more of a concern. Most airlines have a cutoff of 36 weeks. I flew a few short trips when I was pregnant with DS and had no issues. I flew at 35 weeks and no one even asked me how far along I was, so I'm not sure how closely they actually monitor the 36 week cutoff. Make sure you drink lots of water in addition to the compression socks and walking around. If you have any concerns, definitely bring them up with your doctor. I think if you aren't high risk it shouldn't be a problem. Enjoy your trip to Ireland! Sounds amazing!

ThePax89 · May 2016

I traveled to Ireland at 10 and 13 weeks pregnant with my daughter. I took Dramamine (approved by my ob) to calm me. The flight there was fine. It's overnight and shorter. I got up to pee and walk around every 60-90 minutes. The ride home was slightly more brutal. Bring food! And I'm not joking, you need to drink until you freaking float away. When I got home from Ireland, I had intense cramping and thought I was having going into labor, but it was just severe round ligament pain from dehydration and overexertion. I opted out of security both ways because I didn't want to go through the machines.
Also, air lingus will NOT lift your bags for you in Dublin. I had to ask a stranger to lift my bags because I didn't want to lift my 50 lb bag while pregnant.

hayhay2501 · May 2016

Love this post. Definitely something on my mind! I'm going to be travelling back and forth from London to the US as my mom isn't well and I want to make sure I'm caring for myself. Is jetlag even more brutal in pregnancy? Are security machines bad for the baby?

ps- @aishmc let me know if you need any London tips

ashanne88 · May 2016

@hayhay87 Airport security machines emit an extremely low level of radiation and have no been proven to be harmful in any way to an unborn baby. That being said, you can always opt out and get the pat-down. It's really more about what you are comfortable with.

aishmc · May 2016

Thanks so much for all the info ladies! This has helped put my mind to ease a bit.

@ThePax89 @hayhay87 what is the deal with the security machines? I've seen some pregnant ladies opt out. Is there reason for concern with them? Did security at overseas airports allow you to opt out like the US does?
Did you have to state why you opted out? I only have a US passport since I changed my last name and haven't even started getting all the documents together for my Irish passport.

@pshaortao I love the Hawaii babymoon idea! I may need to look into this myself!

Mylitta · May 2016

Thanks for asking this!! We're taking a short trip next month, which I'm not that concerned about. But we're also going to Ireland - in October. I won't be too big, hopefully, but wasn't sure about the later one.

canavara · May 2016

I'm currently in Denmark and flew here at just short of 6 weeks pregnant (in the middle of the worst of morning sickness). We broke the flight into 2 flights routed through Iceland, so it was 5 hours and then 4 hours instead of 9. I did compression socks + tons of water, and everything was mostly fine (I got food poisoning from a place I ate at the night before my flight so...). I brought a 24-ounce naprene water bottle with me and asked the flight attendants to just refill that for me instead of giving me a plastic cup, so I ended up drinking about 6-8 cups of water on the 5 hour flight and that kept me getting up to go pee enough that I didn't even have to think about getting up to stretch and walk around.

The worst is holding your pee during take-off and landing after drinking so much water to stay hydrated.

I also opted for pat-down just in case. TSA acted like I was crazy both times, but I'd say it only added about 10 minutes to my time through security. They do not ask why you opt out. They just have to get a female TSA agent, which can sometimes take a minute or two. The reason I chose to do that was because even though backscatter machines, when tuned perfectly, only emit low levels of radiation, they can potentially emit much higher levels if not set up properly (and there's no obvious way of knowing that, it's not like the machine is going to glow a weird color or something... so better safe than sorry).

I'm flying to Iceland at 8.5 weeks and then back to the US at just short of 10 weeks. Guessing it won't be much different from 6 weeks.

LoneStar21416 · May 2016

I have to fly twice domestically for work during the first trimester. I'm not looking forward to it, but I'm not worried. I'm more annoyed that they booked the flights too late so I have window seats on all of the flights. They all have lay overs too, which I guess might not be a bad thing because I'll be forced to disembark and walk around a bit. I too fully intend on getting up and walking around and likely using the bathroom a lot. I guess I will have to make friends with my middle and aisle seat friends and they will have to deal

AshleySparkle720 · May 2016

We're going to bora bora in September. Not nervous just hate trying to find enough snacks and water to drink in an airport. Much less on an island.

ThePax89 · May 2016

I'm not knowledgable in the field of scanners. I know that people warned me against it, so I avoided. (I'm basically a sheep, following the crowd).
I don't think you need to disclose your reason for opting out. I did. The agent asks you if she needs to be gentle in certain areas, and I said "yes, I'm pregnant." Ireland was very accommodating. I opted out there as well but it seemed very lax.

LoneStar21416 · May 2016

I also opt out of the pat downs for the reason @canavara stated. I did this when I flew during my first pregnancy and had no issues; my experience was the same as @canavara. Just allow extra time because if there is not a female agent close by or if she is otherwise occupied, you may be waiting longer.

canavara · May 2016

ThePax89 said:

I'm not knowledgable in the field of scanners. I know that people warned me against it, so I avoided. (I'm basically a sheep, following the crowd).
I don't think you need to disclose your reason for opting out. I did. The agent asks you if she needs to be gentle in certain areas, and I said "yes, I'm pregnant." Ireland was very accommodating. I opted out there as well but it seemed very lax.

Haha I didn't even think to disclose pregnancy when they asked that question--they were so quick to launch into questions about pacemakers etc. They were pretty gentle around that region even without mentioning it, just some light hand strokes.

Mylitta · May 2016

The scanners use very weak radiation - a bit like an x-ray is what they say. But they do advise that you don't get many x-rays per year. They have low scanners, that are said to have no effect - which I know DIA has. But even so they (those dang they people) advise that if you can avoid them while pregnant, trying to get pregnant, etc you do so. The airport will generally have metal detectors set up for children and those who can't go through the scanners. But they might elect to pat search you as well...

LoneStar21416 · May 2016

My previous post should have said opt out of the SCANNER and elect the pat down. It certainly is Monday!

aishmc · May 2016

Ok thanks everyone. I didn't even realize this was something I should be thinking about. Is TSA discreet about it when you asked to opt out? I'm thinking this might seem suspicious to my family that I'm traveling with.

sarahmsoda · May 2016

My DH and I had a trip planned to Miami with another couple for a Steelers game mid October. We already bought tickets but I don't think my OB will be okay with me being out of the country (I am from Canada) that far along because I would be without travel insurance because pregnancy is considered a pre-existing condition. I am sad because I was really excited for the trip but I am more excited for the pregnancy!

canavara · May 2016

aishmc said:

Ok thanks everyone. I didn't even realize this was something I should be thinking about. Is TSA discreet about it when you asked to opt out? I'm thinking this might seem suspicious to my family that I'm traveling with.

They give you the option to go to a discreet area if you prefer (sometimes they ask, sometimes they don't). Otherwise, they'll do the patdown right in front of all the other people going through security. I thought I'd be self-conscious doing it or get a lot of weird looks, but no one seemed to care at all.

Also, to clarify: If they're using metal detectors, you're totally safe and should just proceed. It's the backscatter machines (the clear walk-in structures where you have to lift your arms above your head and it does a quick scan) that are potentially problematic and you might want to opt out of.

Oh: And at least one person in your family will need to know because you have to have someone to account for your bags going through the X-ray machine, so you'll need to let someone know to grab your stuff for you and that you'll be taken aside. That said, your family is going to be aware that you're doing this no matter what. You won't be getting into the same line as everyone else. You'll be notifying the TSA agent that is right by the machine so everyone will hear you requesting a patdown, and yeah, it'll take longer, so your family is *probably* going to know something is up. Not to stress you out, just something to think about if you're on the fence about telling them sooner. Flying tends to exacerbate pregnancy symptoms and flying puts you in closer proximity to other people so if you're having symptoms at all, there's a good chance people around you might pick up on it, especially grandparents and those who are more likely to notice any differences in your behavior.

Josie3=5 · May 2016

I traveled as late as 34 weeks with my first and would ditto what everyone said. The only thing to add is figure out what altitude you are traveling to. I traveled from Pennsylvania to Denver, CO (a place I've been to multiple times before with no altitude sickness) and was sick as a dog with altitude sickness. Being oxygen-deprived while pregnant is no joke.

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