When to stop flying during pregnancy

When I met up with a pregnant friend the other day she asked me what I thought about taking a holiday at 32 weeks gestation. She’s pregnant with her first child and wanted to go on a babymoon.

It sounded really lovely, and if only looking at airline policies, such as British Airways, it is possible to travel at this stage if you are pregnant with one baby and carry pregnancy records and a letter or a certificate from a doctor or midwife confirming the approximate due date and that there are no complications with the pregnancy.

But in addition to ensuring adherence with airline policies for travelling when pregnant, I would also recommend checking travel insurance policies before booking. Insurance policies can vary in terms of how far into the pregnancy they will cover you, and I even experienced that our insurer refused to reimburse me for a trip we had to cancel due to pregnancy complications.

I was advised to avoid travelling for a few months, but it didn’t matter that I had booked the trip before the inset of the complications, nor that I couldn’t find anything about this in the policy. The insurer claimed they wouldn’t cover for pregnancy-related reasons at all despite this being earlier in the pregnancy and that there had been no reason to believe I shouldn’t have been able to go at the time of booking.

After this experience and a rough time for a few months, I was quite happy to stay inside M25 towards the end when I was feeling very heavy and didn’t fly after 28 weeks.

Many of our friends, however, enjoyed fantastic holidays in the third trimester and had stress-free pregnancies. I think it really depends on the person, and while 32 weeks will probably be ideal for some, it might not be for others.

Tags: British Airways, Flying during pregnancy, Pregnancy, Third trimester, Travel, Travel insurance