Flying is generally not allowed for women who are in their first or third trimester or to those with other complications during pregnancy. But in some cases, pregnant women might need to fly, either solo or with someone. There are many things that one must keep in mind when flying during pregnancy as it is best to avoid complications and make the journey smooth. The following are the top 10 tips to follow when flying during pregnancy:
- The first tip to keep in mind while flying out during the pregnancy months is to keep your medical information or pregnancy records with you. These documents have all your pregnancy results and reports which might be handy if you were to consult another doctor when you are outside your city or country. Also take the number of your caregiver when you fly out.
- Another helpful trip when flying during pregnancy is to avoid flying alone or solo. Especially if you are to fly long distances, it is best that you take someone you know with you.
- It is common for pregnant women to develop swollen feet and the chances for this may rise when flying. Thus try and wear comfortable shoes and make sure that they are slightly loose.
- Ask the flight crew members to give you an aisle seat somewhere near a toilet since during pregnancy, the frequency of urination increases. Also, this will help you to get enough space to move around regularly to avoid backache or swollen feat.
- Make sure you drink water on regular intervals. It is important for a pregnant women to keep herself highly hydrated and thus, do have water every now and then on the flight.
- If you are flying out to another country, avoid those where malaria is common. During pregnant, anti-malarial medications are not allowed and you won’t be able to treat yourself if you catch malaria on your trip abroad. So make sure you do proper research about the destination of flying and only then book the tickets.
- If you are someone who suffers from the condition of restless legs, then taking magnesium phosphate or cell salts one hour before the flight might be a good idea. This will help you avoid a problem during the duration of the flight and even afterwards.
- If you experience other leg related issues, then make sure you massage your calves every now and then and stretch them at regular intervals, especially during long flights.
- While flying abroad, you must always check your travel insurance cover. Some of these insurance covers only last up to a certain point of the pregnancy and others might not cover an overseas birth.
- It is best to not to opt for a plane which doesn’t have cabin pressure. This is especially true in the cases of smaller planes. If you do not get enough cabin pressure, then the body might have to work harder to use the oxygen.
