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Travelling with a pregnant woman
My wife will be in the fifth month in December. Friends of us have told
us that the fifth month is the best month for travelling as birth is still reasonably far away, but on the other hand the baby is stable enough. Having said this, has anybody travelled with a pregnant wife and if so what have been your experiences ? -- Alfred Molon ------------------------------ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Olympus4040_5050/ Olympus 5050 resource - http://www.molon.de/5050.html Olympus 5060 resource - http://www.molon.de/5060.html |
#2
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Travelling with a pregnant woman
Alfred Molon wrote:
Having said this, has anybody travelled with a pregnant wife and if so what have been your experiences ? A pregnant woman is not the ultra-delicate flower that some might have you believe. However, the mother and especially the baby *are* more vulnerable to infections and other diseases, and an infection could have very serious repercussions for the baby. My wife flew across the US and spent a week on the beach when she was over 8 months pregnant with our first child. She loved it. I'd feel totally comfortable doing a trip like that, or anywhere in Europe, Australia, Japan, etc. I would be much MUCH less comfortable doing a trip to a place where malaria, typhoid, food poisoning, and other risks of tropical travel are present. You've done a lot of travelling already, judging from your website. You will do plenty of travelling in the future, with or without kids. If it was me, I would hold off on exotic travel during the pregnancy. I don't think it's worth the risk. Gary |
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Travelling with a pregnant woman
Hi - for what it is worth - we have 5 children and 1 grandchild. Whilst
pregnant, the mothers travelled all over Southern Africa on safaris. Some of our children where one month old when they depart on there first safaris. Today they are grown-ups and you should see them - and you should see the grand-mother! Koos Greeff. Specialist Safari Operator. http://www.afrikasafaris.co.za Alfred Molon wrote in message news.com... My wife will be in the fifth month in December. Friends of us have told us that the fifth month is the best month for travelling as birth is still reasonably far away, but on the other hand the baby is stable enough. Having said this, has anybody travelled with a pregnant wife and if so what have been your experiences ? -- Alfred Molon ------------------------------ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Olympus4040_5050/ Olympus 5050 resource - http://www.molon.de/5050.html Olympus 5060 resource - http://www.molon.de/5060.html |
#4
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Travelling with a pregnant woman
Alfred Molon wrote:
My wife will be in the fifth month in December. Friends of us have told us that the fifth month is the best month for travelling as birth is still reasonably far away, but on the other hand the baby is stable enough. Having said this, has anybody travelled with a pregnant wife and if so what have been your experiences ? Alfred, my first thought, after I saw the subject line, was to recommend against it. I would certainly fear consequences of otherwise possibly inconsequential little infections for the fetus during the first few months, but you're right that after 5 months these risks are much smaller. Another fear is to sit in a rattling, shaking, jumping car or jeep going over rough, unpaved roads for many hours, but you could fly the longer distances. And you should certainly try to stay in one place longer and not move around much, which is often a good idea even if you're not pregnant. A pleasant lodge and lots of peaceful no-sweat off-time (like around the swimming pool) probably can't be bad for the future mother. Yet another fear is for the frequent little or sometimes bigger digestion problems that befall many people when they come into the hot climate. Altogether it depends a lot on how the pregnant women herself sees it and how tough she is. :-) Hans-Georg -- No mail, please. |
#5
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Travelling with a pregnant woman
Dear Alfred,
I was the 4 months pregnant wife, when my husband and I did our 1 month drive-round in US Southwest last year in April. Amongst other less streneous things the trip involved a trek down Grand Canyon. I managed both afternoon heat and distance reasonably well in spite of my lack of general condition and trekking experience. The trek down took 7hrs (normal average 3-4hrs) and the trek up took 12hrs (normal average 8-9hrs). We took plenty of breaks especially on the last ½ up, where my husband also carried my backpack. I kept my pulse below 120 at all times which became difficult during the last stretch of the trek - should have started earlier that day to minimize trek time in above 15 degrees Celcius. In retrospect I would certainly travel again during a pregnancy and under similar circumstances provided it was: 1. a *very* easy pregnancy - ie. I did 16hrs shifts once a week until I was 7months pregnant. 2. a once in a lifetime/or once in a decade chance to see a particular sight that *I* wanted to see as well 3. a sensible travelcompanion who understood without *any* discussion that the pace of any trekking is set by the slowest member of the party On the other hand I would not have gone to XX if: 1. I could predict significant doubt in my/my husbands mind that a spontaneous abortion was not related to the trip/stress during the trip if it should occur. 2. the quality and access to health care services was too different from Northern Europe - ie. handling obstetric complications and the like. 3. if the spectrum of infectious diseases was too different from Northern Europe - a point mentioned by other posters. 4. there were no good reasons IMO that going with a baby/toddler/small child later was not reasonably feasible I could probably come up with more pros and cons but these were the most important at the time. You need to take a detailed and honest discussion with your wife about your destination, the itenerary, the lodging/dining/transportation plans and what *she* actually wants. I would NOT recommend you to go anywhere if there is any chance that your wife accepts a trip to XX in order to accommodate you. She might not forgive you or herself if something happens to the foetus/baby. Do bring a translation of your wifes health and pregnancy details on the trip including blood type. We went on a 1 month car trip Copenhagen-Sicily-Cph when our daughter Linea was 5½ months old in April/May this year. A great time to do car trips provided the baby doesn't get car sick: 1. they will usually sleep a lot of the driving time, 2. will be able to change between breastfeeding and spoon/bottle should the breastfeeding end in a mess due to either the mother or the baby 3. they aren't too mobile or activity demanding yet Last week we came home from 1 weeks driving around Bouches du Rhone (Provence, France) with Linea now 13 months old. This time we did as follows with success: 1. flew 2hrs and got a rental car 2. stayed in one place as a base - a holiday appartment (Gite) with its own kitchen/bathing facilities 3. max. driving time pr. day 3 hrs. 4. get up and go sightseeing when the baby wakes, restaurant lunch at the time when your child is in its best mood during the day or napping, sightseeing or driving home, dinner at "home" at usual time 18, usual baby bed time and relaxation for the adults 3. max. driving time pr. day Travelling outside peak tourist season is less stressful for anyone travelling with children. Have a good trip w/o children Cecilie Th. Jacobsen "Alfred Molon" wrote in message news.com... My wife will be in the fifth month in December. Friends of us have told us that the fifth month is the best month for travelling as birth is still reasonably far away, but on the other hand the baby is stable enough. Having said this, has anybody travelled with a pregnant wife and if so what have been your experiences ? -- Alfred Molon ------------------------------ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Olympus4040_5050/ Olympus 5050 resource - http://www.molon.de/5050.html Olympus 5060 resource - http://www.molon.de/5060.html |
#6
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Travelling with a pregnant woman
Cecilie,
thanks for the long and informative post. We might do a two weeks trip to Egypt in December (her 5th month). The flight should be no problem (around 4 hours), the only uncertainty could be the food, meaning that in the worst case she would get food poisoning. But Egypt is touristy enough to offer a range of restaurants so we might simply stick with the better ones. Also, my wife is Malaysian, so she has already been exposed to a certain extent to, let's say, not perfectly clean food. If not Egypt, the other option would be simply to fly again to Malaysia (if I manage to catch a flight). Here the problem is the long flight (12 - 15 hours), as pregnant women run a higher risk of thrombosis according to our doctor. To cope with this she would need to walk a bit every hour or two hours. Several of our Malaysian friends here in Munich flew without problems to Malaysia in the middle of the pregnancy. Malaysia has the advantage that her family is there and she is used to it. -- Alfred Molon http://www.molon.de/Galleries.htm - Photos from Myanmar, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Nepal, Egypt, Austria, Budapest and Portugal |
#7
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Travelling with a pregnant woman
Dear Alfred,
Egypt is a very nice country *imo* - plenty to see, generally nice and funny people apart from the occasional extremist who try to destabilise the country ;-) I and plenty of others actually got varying degrees of touristic stomach by eating at Sheraton in Alexandria several years ago, so don't feel completely safe by choosing expensive dining. Granted it was a warm buffet which is always tricky, but tourist stomach is often caused by the difference in the intestinal flora of your home and destination country and not necessarily pathogenic bacteria. That means that being raised in Malaysia unfortunately isn't a guarantee - Middleeastern immigrants living in Denmark also get diarrea when they go on holiday "back home". No matter where you go - do *not* accept the medicine most guides/hotels have available if your wife gets a diarrea that you feel needs treatment. It is efficient but might contain herbs or broadspectered antibiotics that might be teratogenic. However impractical consult a qualified physician who can tell you excactly what the medication contains and whether it could damage the baby. Besides from an unpleasant but usually reasonably harmless tourist stomach you should also consider the risk of Hepatitis A (food transmissible) - if your wife hasn't already been vaccinated this is usually something you wait with until after the birth. Maybe the Hepatitis prevalence in Egypt isn't higher than where you live now? In any case your wife needs to consult her physician and possibly her obstetrician about the need for vaccinations or any other preventive medication (ie. antimalarial drugs) no matter where you choose to go. In principle Egyptian physicians should speak or at least read some English since they use English textbooks to a fairly large degree as far as I know. Best regards Cecilie Th. Jacobsen |
#8
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Travelling with a pregnant woman
Alfred,
2nd trimester is the best time to travel. We travelled to Italy when my wife was about 5 months pregnant. The only thing I would advise is to *slow* down a bit and drink lots of water. We travelled without taking my wife's condition into account and she got dehydrated (Aug in Italy) and started having contractions. We had to go to the local Italian hospital. Anyway after that we took it easy and I made sure my wife had lots of water. We travelled by bus and train as well as walked around like normal tourists without any problem after that. good luck waseem Cecilie Thorning Jacobsen wrote: Dear Alfred, Egypt is a very nice country *imo* - plenty to see, generally nice and funny people apart from the occasional extremist who try to destabilise the country ;-) I and plenty of others actually got varying degrees of touristic stomach by eating at Sheraton in Alexandria several years ago, so don't feel completely safe by choosing expensive dining. Granted it was a warm buffet which is always tricky, but tourist stomach is often caused by the difference in the intestinal flora of your home and destination country and not necessarily pathogenic bacteria. That means that being raised in Malaysia unfortunately isn't a guarantee - Middleeastern immigrants living in Denmark also get diarrea when they go on holiday "back home". No matter where you go - do *not* accept the medicine most guides/hotels have available if your wife gets a diarrea that you feel needs treatment. It is efficient but might contain herbs or broadspectered antibiotics that might be teratogenic. However impractical consult a qualified physician who can tell you excactly what the medication contains and whether it could damage the baby. Besides from an unpleasant but usually reasonably harmless tourist stomach you should also consider the risk of Hepatitis A (food transmissible) - if your wife hasn't already been vaccinated this is usually something you wait with until after the birth. Maybe the Hepatitis prevalence in Egypt isn't higher than where you live now? In any case your wife needs to consult her physician and possibly her obstetrician about the need for vaccinations or any other preventive medication (ie. antimalarial drugs) no matter where you choose to go. In principle Egyptian physicians should speak or at least read some English since they use English textbooks to a fairly large degree as far as I know. Best regards Cecilie Th. Jacobsen |
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