Pregnancy and Flying

Many expectant mothers are naturally concerned about the effects of flying while pregnant. They don't want to do anything that would put the health of their unborn baby at risk, so for your own piece of mind you should read through the following points regarding pregnancy and flying.

• Walking through the metal detectors at airport security is perfectly safe for pregnant women. These security screening devices do not use x-rays and hence will not harm you or your unborn baby.
• Recently a lot of airports, particularly in the US, have decided to add to their security screening process full body scanners, which produces an image of your nude body through your clothes in order to look for hidden objects. Apart from the privacy concerns of these backscatter x-ray scanners also deliver a low dose of radiation during the scanning process. Whilst the makers of these machines argue that the radiation dose is very small the International Atomic Energy Agency and World Health Organization have recommended that pregnant women and small children do not use these devices. You should instead insist on having a pat down search of your body by a female security officer.
• The machines that scan your luggage also use x-ray technology but passengers will not be exposed to any of the radiation by simply being near these machines. The only way that you can be exposed to radiation from a luggage scanner is to actually put yourself into the machine.
• Another flying tip that pregnant women should consider before booking their tickets is whether or not their morning sickness will hamper their travels. For this reason most pregnant women prefer to fly during their second trimester when the amount of morning sickness is significantly reduced. Unless of course you are one of those lucky people who doesn't suffer from morning sickness.
• You can generally fly whilst pregnant up to 36 weeks with most airlines, although it will be less if you are having twins or triplets. Make sure that you check with the airline before booking your tickets because each airline will have a different policy and some of them may even require you to carry a medical certificate in order to fly when pregnant.
• A precaution that you should definitely take before flying during pregnancy is to go and see your doctor and make sure that there aren't any medical reasons for you not to fly. For example if you have high blood pressure then your local GP may recommend that you don't fly and you should know this before you book your plane tickets.
• You should also ask your doctor if there are any recommended vaccinations before you depart for your chosen destination. Most doctors recommended that you do not travel whilst pregnant to regions that carry a high malaria risk.
• The seats in economy class are cramped at the best of times, but then you're pregnant this seems doubly so. So make sure that you check-in to your flight early and request to be seated in a bulkhead or front row seat where there is more leg and/or tummy room. Failing that make sure that you get an aisle seat that is close (but not right next to) the toilet. For safety reasons pregnant women cannot be seated in the emergency row seats because the passengers in these seats may be required to help the cabin crew open the emergency exit door.
• If you are getting travel insurance make sure that it covers your pregnancy whilst flying, as many policies will have an extra fee for this sort of cover.
• Many expectant mothers wonder if it is ok when flying during pregnancy to wear the plane's seat belt for such a long time. It is not only perfectly harmless but wearing the seatbelt is highly recommended because unexpected turbulence can occur at any time during the flight.
• If you are pregnant and flying it is recommended that you do regular leg, foot and arm exercises as well as getting up occasionally and walking around the plane. This is to prevent deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and it is even more relevant to pregnant women because they have a higher risk of developing blood clots.
• Another way the you can reduce the risk of deep vein thrombosis if you are flying when pregnant is to increase blood circulation by wearing tight stockings or special socks that come up to your thighs.
• Also if you are flying whilst pregnant then you should obey the normal flight tips in order to remain comfortable, such as wearing loose fitting clothing and keeping hydrated by drinking plenty of water.
• There has been a lot of debate about whether or not exposure to earth's atmospheric radiation whilst flying could increase the risk of miscarriage. It has clearly been shown that this risk is negligible unless you are flying all the time, like a pilot or air hostess.