My grandfather passed away yesterday, and I have to quickly decide whether to make the 9 hour journey home from Miami to London for the funeral.
My doctor has already cleared me for flying. (suggested lots of water, and walking around). I will be 17 weeks.
My family is worried about me traveling and advising me not to go. I am definitely concerned about the increased risk of DVT.
Have you flown on a long distance flight while pregnant? Was everything ok?
16 votes
hostess / wonderful honeydew / 32460 posts
I flew 5 hOurs at 20 weeks pregnant. Didn't have any issues.. Not sure if I would do 9 hours... I can barely handle 5..
GOLD / eggplant / 11517 posts
I did 2 hours at 16 weeks which was easy until the very end, when I started to get a little uncomfortable. 9 sounds a lot more challenging.
pear / 1879 posts
I am so sorry for your loss.
I am actually planning on making that exact same journey (Miami to London) in 2 weeks for work. I will be 22 weeks along and my doctor has been completely comfortable with this. At around 30 weeks they recommend not traveling that far, but the flight should not be a problem at 17 weeks, especially if your doctor has cleared you.
Best wishes.
pomelo / 5789 posts
I could also in theory split it up. Fly 3ish hours to NYC, then fly 6ish to london.
None of these options sound appealing whatsoever, but I only have one chance to be at the funeral 
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
I flew 6 hours (Boston to Seattle) at 28 weeks... then 3 hours (Boston to Tampa) at 32 weeks. I was fine both times, didn't even really get up to walk around or hydrate like crazy and I didn't experience any swelling.
blogger / watermelon / 14218 posts
oh also I got a note clearing me for flying from my OB just in case they stopped me at the airport.
grape / 79 posts
At 21 weeks I flew round trip from DC to London (about 7.5 hours) and it was totally fine. As we boarded I took a baby aspirin (as recommended by my ob), wore compression socks, and got up and walked around four times during the flight. It definitely helped that we flew business class on British Airways so we had tons of room and the seats could lie flat.
I would go to Miami and just splurge on a first or business class seat to make sure you are more comfortable.
papaya / 10560 posts
At 28 weeks I flew from far West Texas to Albany, NY. My feet got more swollen than I ever could have imagined...honestly, I didn't walk around enough. Like Mrs. Wagon, my doctor also sent me with a note/medical records clearing me to fly.
I have had a higher risk pregnancy so I was definitely nervous about making the flight, but at 17 weeks you should be okay. I am taking a short flight next week (1 hour) and that will be the end of my traveling days!
pear / 1992 posts
I just got back from flying round-trip Tampa to London (then Edinborough) and I was 19 and 20 weeks when flying. It actually went pretty well! I wore compression socks to keep the swelling down and I wasn't really worried about not getting up enough with all the trips to the bathroom I had to make (tip - get an aisle seat even if you normally don't like them).
I also am guaranteed to get motion sickness on flights and was OK'd to take dramamine like I normally would to combat it. The drowsiness side effect was actually really helpful for falling asleep on such a long flight too.
My midwife also sent me with my paperwork in case I needed it, but I thankfully never did. All-in-all I would say that it was almost a non-issue. Aside from my special socks and more time spent in an airplane bathroom than I would have liked.
pear / 1728 posts
I flew from NYC to San Francisco at 18 weeks pregnant (and home at 20 weeks.) My doctor told me to wear compression socks and to get up and walk donw the aisle every hour or so to prevent blood clots. Aside from that, it was all normal.
Im sorry for your loss =o(
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
I didn't wear the compression socks when I flew long haul at around 24 weeks. By that point, I couldn't get them on without a whole bunch of sweating and my husband to help me.
I was totally fine, I think I just walked around every hour and tried to distract myself with trashy magazines!
bananas / 9357 posts
I just got back from a trip to Taiwan. I was 20 weeks at the time. 14 hour flight there and a 12 hour flight home. I had no issues. My feet did swell a lot after the flight there. I just made sure to keep drinking water and get up and use the restroom frequently.
blogger / pineapple / 12381 posts
I flew to Mexico at 28 weeks. I was swollen and tired and had to get up to pee a lot but was fine.
persimmon / 1135 posts
I'm so sorry for your loss. When I was about the same number of weeks, I flew from Manchester to Montreal and was fine. I did wear some sexy compression socks to minimize DVT risk. The only problem I encountered was that the dehydration hit me a lot harder than normal. So my one tip would be to drink, drink, drink that water.
We were also on the first row of regular class so we had extra leg room and I could even prop my feet up, so see if you can get those seats because it does make a difference.
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