Pregnancy is definitely one of those periods of your life that every woman admires throughout the entire life. This is full of joy, happiness and obviously lots of adventurous experiences. In this time period, you have to face many challenges. You may don’t move comfortably, you may not eat everything, you may won’t able to sleep as you do regularly. There are lots of changes you will experience in your pregnancy. But this doesn’t mean that you are captived in your house for 10 months. You can go outside your house if you need. In fact, you should go out at least for a walk or for buying your necessary stuff.
Most of all, you can even go travelling. Doesn’t it sound weird? Yes, we know. But you can do this. Women think they have to be in their house till they give birth to children. But the ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists) has said, a pregnant woman can travel till 36 weeks of pregnancy. Today we will discuss how you can travel safely in your pregnancy period.
Keep eyes on the following tips to travel during pregnancy:
1. Travel When You’re Most Comfortable
You have to understand the time when you should travel. According to the ACOG (American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists), the perfect and safe time for travelling of a would-be-mom is the mid-pregnancy period. This is generally from the 14 weeks to the 28 weeks. You will be able to move comfortably in the second trimester of your pregnancy.
In this time, your physical stamina increases and you can do more work than the first and third trimester. In this time, morning sickness, vomiting, etc., reduces and you can be healthy. Most of all, the first and third trimesters are more sensitive and dangerous for babies. So, you should not take any risk at this time. If you want to go anywhere, go in the second trimester. It is comparatively safe.
2. Have a Plan B
Though you are feeling good and there is still lots of time left for delivery, you should have alternative plans for emergency situations. Before leaving your house for an outing, you should take care of some things. First, you should consult with a doctor and get cleared by the doctor considering your physical conditions. If he feels everything is okay, you can go.
Next, you should find out hospitals and clinics locations and contacts near the place you will go for the trip. If anything unpleasant occurs there, you will be able to get admitted to the hospital very soon. You should also contact your friends or the people who live near your destination. In critical situations, your nearest people would be the most helpful hands for you.
3. Purchase Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is a very crucial matter when you already have a health issue. For every pregnant woman, getting travel insurance coverage is very, very important. Suppose you are on a trip with uncountable joy and suddenly you are facing some physical problems that are making you bound to go to a hospital.
If your treatment requires lots of money, your pocket may not permit you to spend much as you didn’t arrange money for this sudden situation. This is why we insist on getting travel insurance. In this way, the insurance company will bear all the medical costs that are a big thing when you’re out of your house.
4. Bring Your Medical Records with You
As we already said that time is unpredictable. You don’t know what will happen to you tomorrow. It is possible that you will leave your house in good physical condition but feel bad while travelling. You may need to admit to hospitals as well. In this case, you have to carry your past medical reports with you.
This will take so much time if you go to a doctor and he needs to do check-ups to know about your physical conditions elaborately. If you have your past medical reports, doctors can easily get a clear conception regarding our health conditions and can take necessary steps very quickly. So always keep the medical report file in your backpack.
5. Be Proactive About Your Health
This is very important to keep yourself active even when you are travelling. You should walk for a few minutes after some time if you are going to a long distant place and have to use vehicles for a long time. In this way, you can keep yourself warm and stable.
You should do this even when you are travelling by air. If you find it difficult to do on an aeroplane, you can wear compression socks. Compression socks can help you to avoid swelling, blood clots and more. So keep a pair in your bag if you are on a day-long flight.
6. Stay Hydrated
Water should always be in your bottle. Staying hydrated is one of the essential tasks during pregnancy. This time your body needs lots of water and your baby as well. Your body absorbs lots of water and you can be dehydrated very easily.
If you go travelling, this is very obvious that you won’t be able to keep yourself hydrated and this is an alarming issue for you. So you should keep a reusable water bottle in your bag with fresh water so that you can have water after a few breaks. Otherwise, it will increase the risk for preterm contractions.
7. Pack Healthy Snacks
When you are pregnant, you will feel hungry after every short period. In fact, your body needs more food at this time. So, you also have to think about your eating stuff while leaving your house. You may think that you will get different foods at the airport.
But, foods available at the airport are not healthy at all and expensive too. So you should avoid those foods. Always try to keep home foods in your bag. You can keep a vacuum pot for storing full of dry fruits and vegetables in your bag so that you can have healthy foods. You can also keep whole-grain toast or crackers as snacks.
8. Bring Sanitizing Wipes and Gel
The chances of affecting a pregnant woman by different harmful viruses are a few times more than a normal woman. So you have to be clean and sanitized all the time. You have to wash your hands frequently. Besides, you have to carry self-protection items to keep your surroundings protected. You can keep disinfecting wipes to clean your stuff. You should keep hand sanitizer, masks, etc., to keep yourself safe from dirt and germs.
9. Keep Car Rides Short
If you are planning to go on a trip by road instead of an aeroplane, you have to make some decisions carefully. The road trip is not equally comfortable as the aeroplane. You should extend the journey into several days so that you can take enough rest and feel jerks as low as possible. You should always tie the seat belts to ensure safety. Stop after going a few rides and get out of the car for a short walk.
10. Book an Aisle Seat When You Fly
You should choose the aisle seat while flying in an aeroplane. You may like enjoying the window view. But you should remember that you need to go to the washroom again and again. If you choose the window seat, you may enjoy your time. But you have to disturb other passengers to go for a walk if you need and also for going to the washroom. So get the aisle seat for your convenience. If you can afford it, try to get a business class seat to travel with very comfortably.
11. Don’t Overbook Yourself
When you go on a trip, you want to enjoy your time. You want to roam here and there and spend lots of time enjoying the trip. But you always should be aware of your health. You are in a critical condition and have another life in yourself. That’s why you should not overbook yourself into doing crazy stuff. You must enjoy the trip. But don’t make it harmful to your help. You should enjoy a relaxation-themed trip that will make your mind fresh.
12. Be Choosy About Your Destination
You should be mindful while choosing your destination for the trip. You have to consider the weather. Suppose you are thinking to go on a trip on a beach getaway in July. But, this will be a wrong decision as it will be extremely hot there. The temperature will be approximately 89 degrees and the humidity level will decrease drastically.
In such a situation, you will be in a great problem going there, especially when you are pregnant. The best solution is to research properly regarding the destination where you want to go. This is not tough at all nowadays as you have your assistance, Google.
13. Pack a First-Aid Kit
Feeling sick and weak is a very common incident to every pregnant woman. It could happen without any reason when you are at your home. But if you are on a trip, you will surely feel health issues. So you always should be ready with first-aid kits to face emergency situations. You should take different medicines in your first-aid kit box, including headaches, heartburn and other pregnancy-related medicines. You should also keep gauge, antiseptic, etc., in your kit box.
14. Check If You Need Clearance to Fly
Generally, almost all flights allow you to travel in their aeroplane if you are up to 36 months pregnant. But there are some international flights that require proper documentation and papers regarding their medical permission of flying. Some companies are Cathay Pacific, Emirates, etc. All these companies require medical clearance from the doctor. If you have permission, you are free to go. If not, you have to go for alternative ways.
15. Choose the Right Luggage
When you are leaving your house for some days, you have to take so much stuff to ensure that you will get everything you want in your luggage. So take a suitcase of quite a large size. But it should not be extremely heavy so that you can carry it very easily. Moreover, the luggage should have wheels so that you can move safely from the car. It should have so many compartments so that you can organize lots of stuff in a convenient way.
Bottom Line
Pregnancy is a life-long experience that you won’t get at any other time. This is tough; this is painful. But you can enjoy this period if you can do things in a tricky way. Travelling is something that is difficult in pregnancy but not impossible. As we described above, you can also enjoy a trip along with your pregnancy if you take care of the above things we have mentioned.
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