Flying while pregnant

[1stbaby]

Right now I am 21 weeks pregnant and planning a trip from Alberta, Canada to Los Angeles in 3 weeks. Some people have told me that it is not to smart to fly that far, but when I read any of my books they all say that it should be alright as long as I am not a high risk pregnancy. Any opinions?

[morg_monster]

The general consensus is that it is safe to fly when pregnant up to about 32 wks for international flights and 36 for domestic. Though this may be more due to airline's fears of emergencies in the air than mother and child safety (though obviously it isn't going to be great if you give birth 36000 feet over the atlantic...). At 24 weeks you'll be fine but there are some precautions that you can take. THey are all outlined in this site
http://pregnanttraveler.com/Articles/Air%20travel.htm

When do you fly back?!

[shaz-rla]

I flew from England to Hawai when I was around 21 weeks pregnant to get married! My tip (not professional) is to get up and walk about as much as you can to combat the extremely swollen ankles and drink plenty of water - my guess (again not professional) is the airlines take precautions due to risk of deep vein thrombosis in all passengers doing long haul flights, not just pregnant ones!  I had a fab time (if a little tired!) so enjoy your flight!

[Kingaroo]

I scoffed at my mother's concerns, flew 800 miles when I was 8 months pregnant, and went into labor 24 hours later. We'll never know if the flight had anything to do with it.

My advice is, do some preliminary research about hospitals in the area where you'll be staying, take your doctor's phone number with you. Then if the unlikely happens, you'll be prepared.