Long Haul Pregnant

firebird84

Hi ladies! Has anyone ever flown long haul while pregnant, like 10-12 hours? My company want me to go to a conference in Hong Kong while I'm 5 months pregnant. They don't know I'm pregnant yet so it's kinda tricky because they need an answer soon. I checked with the airline and technically I'll be fine to fly and work is very keen I go but I don't know how I'll feel after that long a journey. I flew max 2.5 hours before while pregnant and that was fine. I've done this trip before while not pregnant and was grand but can be uncomfortable in economy. Anyone done such a long trip before?

Toots

I've never done one while pregnant, however what I will say is you may be grand to do it now, you might not feel the same way when the time comes. I've flown to Hong Kong before and it's a long old flight. I found I was grand on the way over but after the flight home I was wrecked for days. Also you'll probably need to get a doctor to sign off to say you're ok to fly.

Crybabygeeks

I flew to San Fran at 17 weeks. It was fine but was exhausted after it and swore not to do it again!! Unless it's absolutely business critical (and in reality so few things actually are!) I'd try and avoid it. My two cents on it..

kastasia

How far are you gone now and is there any particular reason to hold off on telling? I don't travel very often with work and nothing came up before I told them, but while I was doing my treatment there was a strong possibility of long haul travel and I was just keeping my fingers crossed it didn't happen. I don't know what excuse I'd have come up with if they had asked me, but I'd have thought of something.

angeldelight

I did a 7/8 hour flight in first trimester and it was grand but I don’t think I’d fancy travelling somewhere as far as HK solo when pregnant

firebird84

kastasia wrote: »

How far are you gone now and is there any particular reason to hold off on telling? I don't travel very often with work and nothing came up before I told them, but while I was doing my treatment there was a strong possibility of long haul travel and I was just keeping my fingers crossed it didn't happen. I don't know what excuse I'd have come up with if they had asked me, but I'd have thought of something.

6 weeks, waaaay too early to be sharing that kind of news for my comfort level. Don't plan to tell them until 12 weeks.

firebird84

Crybabygeeks wrote: »

Unless it's absolutely business critical (and in reality so few things actually are!)

Yeah that's my thinking on it. No one will die if I don't go.

kastasia

Fair enough, that's a bit early all right! Maybe you can invent some important family occasion you can't miss? A friend in Australia got married last Feb and organised an Irish celebration for July by which time his wife was 5 months pregnant. She seemed to be OK, though being that far along myself I don't think it can have been too comfortable.

Blndbby

I did a 8 hour flight in my first trimester. Your fine health wise according to the airline but for me I wasn't feeling well at all (all say sickness ) so I wasn't really able for it.

When do you plan on telling them you're pregnant?

firebird84

Blndbby wrote: »

I did a 8 hour flight in my first trimester. Your fine health wise according to the airline but for me I wasn't feeling well at all (all say sickness ) so I wasn't really able for it.

When do you plan on telling them you're pregnant?

Not for another 6 weeks (only 6 now). I have an early scan coming up at 8 weeks so depending on how that goes I might tell my manager only so she can be in the loop.

Ninjini

I did a 9 hour flight at 5 and a half months. It was uncomfortable but I managed by bringing a cushion to help my back and walking as much as I could during the flight and making sure I kept properly hydrated. Also flight socks are a must.

rainbow kirby

If you must travel long haul while pregnant then 4-5 months is probably around the ideal time for it - you're over the worst of the early sickness but haven't reached 3rd trimester discomfort levels yet. Wear compression socks, walk around a bit, drink tons of water.

I would discuss it with your midwife or doc and see what they think but it's not something that sounds massively appealing. I'd also be making sure that there was good insurance coverage if you have to go in case of complications.

mojesius

Can you talk to your manager discreetly about it? I was in the same boat, work wanted me to do a few trips to far east at 5 MTHS pregnant so I told my manager at 8 weeks and said I wouldn't be comfortable travelling so far at that stage. He said he'd have my back and just tell people on my projects that I couldn't due to personal reasons and if they had any issues to talk to him (great manager!).

Every pregnancy is different but at 5 months, I had an energy spurt but just enough to get my work done 9-6. Seriously cut down on overtime and work related events by that stage. Something to think about.

jlm29

I flew to Australia (and back!) during my first pregnancy - I think I actually went via Hong Kong, come to think of it.
I was 16 weeks leaving, and 20 weeks coming back. It was my first pregnancy, and I was very very well, and if I had my time back I’d do it again with no hesitation.
I felt a bit sick on a few landings throughout my trip (a lot of internal flights in oz), but that was it.
That said, I had booked and paid for my flights before I found out I was expecting. I asked my doctor who advised there was no reason not to go - exact words were “you won’t be going again for a long time, you might as well go now”.

Third_Echelon

My wife and I flew back to Ireland for Christmas a few weeks ago from San Francisco to Dublin (10 hours to Dublin, 11 back to San Fran). She was 26/27 weeks going and 28/29 coming back, so just before they recommend not flying long haul.

She was fine. Kept hydrated, wore the flight socks and moved around the cabin when she needed to. It's not an ideal place to be when you are pregnant, but if you have to it seems to be OK. I used to travel extensively in the past 7 or 8 years transatlantic and often saw pregnant women.

Aer Lingus though require a doctor's OK at a certain point. We were ok going out, but needed it coming back I think (or just on the cusp, so got it anyway). We just got a check up before we left anyway to make sure all was signed off by the doc. Info here for Aer Lingus. I'm sure all airlines have a similar page: https://www.aerlingus.com/travel-information/special-assistance/medical-conditions/

Gatica

In all honestly, people and pregnancies are all different, and not even you will probably know how it will go. I'd take anecdotes of women travelling at 32 weeks (not a dig at you, Third_Echelon) with a pinch of salt. What might've been an easy pregnancy and trip for one woman at 32 weeks, might not be so easy for another.
Sorry to play devil's advocate, but you could have all-day morning sickness for all of your pregancy, you could have SPD or high-blood pressure, or any of the numerous maladies that befall pregant women that no one warns you about. ..of course you could also fly it (no pun intended) and feel great, and I hope it's the latter.
I was really active for most of my pregancy, doing spinning, circuit, pilates, etc... However, at 26 weeks I started getting SPD symptoms and it got worse. After a couple of weeks I could barely walk, and stairs were excruciating. There was no way to predict this was going to happen.
I'd a nurse appointment early on at work, and I also told her that I may need to travel to Hong Kong around the 30-32 week mark. She really advised against it (mainly in case I went into early labour and was that far away from home). I was really glad I listened and told my manager long-haul would be a no-go, as by that stage I would not have been in a state where I could walk far unaided. You have to remember as well that HK has a huge pollution problem and depending on time of year, is quite stifling from the heat. My manager went and said he found the heat and humidity really tough, would've been even worse for me I image.
Having said that, I travelled numerous times throughout my pregancy, including Florida and California (at the onset of SPD ). I went to Denmark for work around 20 weeks, it was fine, but didn't sleep great away from my bed. That's a whole lot closer than HK though. The main thing, as others suggested, is to stay hydrated, keep a bottle of water beside you at all times, get compression/flight socks and walk around the cabin every 30-45 mins. My GP wasn't keen on my long-haul travel, but said I'd to do all of the above and it should be fine. My hubby paused my films for me in-flight, and reminded me to go walking, even though I really didn't feel like it or had aches and pains, but it needed to be done... 8-)

Good luck whatever you decide.

wuffly

Agree completely with the above!

You could be totally fine to travel but you have no way of knowing right now.

I flew 8 hours around 6 weeks, was grand. However morning sickness kicked off and lasted my whole pregnancy around the same time and from 20 weeks I had SPD, so a long haul flight would have been hell, getting around the airport let alone the flight etc...

If you can avoid it I would. If it comes around that you can go and are able to go then why not but for now, I would say try and avoid.

Best of luck!

firebird84

Thanks for all the input ladies! I think I'm going to try and put it off til my 8 week scan and then have a quiet word with my manager and see if I could swing business class for the comfort, we have a fairly good travel agency who are great at finding good deals like that so it hopefully wouldn't be too pricey. I hate being the awkward annie but I was already the size of a whale at 5 months the first time so I can only imagine it will be worse on number 2