5 Tips for Traveling While Pregnant

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You finally decided to take that vacation that you have so deserved for a long time. You took your time, picked a great destination and the right time to go, booked the whole thing and then found out that you’re pregnant. Or maybe you’ve decided to take a “babymoon” and enjoy a nice trip before your new arrival makes its debut. No matter the reason or the mode of transportation travel can require a little extra planning when you’re pregnant. Here are five tips to help make travel a little easier and more comfortable while you’re expecting.

Know your airline’s policies about pregnancy

Flying can be the fastest and most efficient way to get to your destination, but before you board make sure to check into your airline’s policies for pregnant passengers. While most airlines will allow you to travel up to week 36 of your pregnancy, some may require documentation from your doctor. Other airlines will allow you to priority board, giving you more time to get situated once on the plane. You may even be able to request specific seats (to be closer to the lavatories) or seat belt extenders to make things more comfortable on your belly. No matter the special accommodations, it’s important to check before your trip.

Dress for comfort and practicality

Travel, be it by plan or train or car, can be a little uncomfortable sometimes. Sitting for long periods of time, not having full control of the climate, or just being in small quarters can definitely impact how you feel on a trip. To help make things easier and improve your travel mood, dressing comfortably and appropriately is the way to go. Stretchy pants or dresses in soft, breathable fabrics are always a great choice as is dressing in layers. If you get too cold you can always add something, like a light sweater or even a big blanket scarf and if you get too warm you can take it off. Shoes that are easy to put on and take off are also critical. Another great choice? Compression socks. They help minimize swelling in the feet and ankles but they also combat pain and fatigue in the legs.

Stretch

Pregnancy makes women more susceptible to blood clots and being seated for extended periods of time can exacerbate that. Wearing the compression socks that help with swelling also helps prevent blood clots, but you should still take the time to stretch. On a plane if you can’t get a bulkhead seat with extra legroom, consider an aisle seat so you can fully extend your legs every so often or even get up and walk to the lavatory more easily. When traveling by car, be sure to take frequent planned stops so you can stretch out and walk around a bit.

Bring snacks

Making sure you’re not hungry and that your blood sugar is nice and even goes a long way to making any trip more enjoyable, but when you’re pregnant you want to make sure keeping your body happy. To that end be sure to bring along healthy snacks, such as granola bars, carrot sticks, or even little containers of dried fruit. Healthy snacks give you more nutritional bang for your buck and are good for your baby, too.

Relax

Travel can be stressful, but it’s also fun! This might be the last time you get to travel without a small human for a while so in additional to all of the previous bits of advice, don’t forget to relax and enjoy your trip. Put your seat back, take a little nap, or take the travel time to read, anything really that puts you in a vacation state of mind. You’re working hard to grow a new person. You deserve to relax!

What are some of your best travel tips? Share them with us in the comments!