language_buddy

We're starting to do preliminary research for a trip to Asia next year. The kink in our planning is that we would hope to be pregnant (early pregnancy) at that time.

We'd love to visit Cambodia and Thailand and it seems that vaccines are recommended to travel there? I'm totally clueless if pregnant women would be able to get vaccines or if that's considered unsafe. Is it possible to get vaccines before we try to conceive? Aside from that, is it ok for a pregnant woman in the first trimester or so to travel to Asia, given health reasons, etc. Sorry, like I said, I'm totally clueless still about pregnany and such since we're still a year out

Thanks for any advice and happy travels!

KimJapan

It will be most important to discuss this with your doctor.

That said, I travelled twice during pregnancy. Once from Japan to the US and back at 14 weeks, and once from Japan to Hong Kong and back at 33 weeks.

It is generally advised that women wait until after the first trimester to travel longer distances. Also, travel in the 3rd trimester (after how many weeks depends on the airline I think) may require a doctors written note for clearance to travel by air. I know I needed this to fly Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong.

Vaccines and malaria medication for Cambodia are also a topic for discussion with your doctor. You could review the CDC's information before meeting with your doctor, and have all questions and concerns noted down beforehand to be sure you remember to ask them all.

language_buddy

Thanks! Yes, absolutely I'm going to discuss these questions with my doctor. Since I'm scheduled to meet with her for a few more months, I'm just trying to get a general understanding of what I should be aware of during our early trip research.

tnnc

According to the CDC site, some malaria medicine (Ankor Wat Cambodia is a malaria risk area) is not recommended for pregnant women.

Kathie

Note that malaria in a pregnant woman is considered a medical emergency. I'd cross off any malarial risk areas if you are pregnant.

Do get all relevant vaccines before trying to conceive.

W9London

Just a few things you might want to consider before booking the trip... It's hard to tell how you'd feel in the first trimester. You can have morning sickness. Second trimester is usually the best time for travelling. My feet were so swollen and I was so uncomfortable when I had to fly long-haul in my 7th month. (Just think of all the loo visits you'll need to make during the flight).
You said "hope to be pregnant"... My advise would be do all your travelling BEFORE you get pregnant if this is feasible. That way you won't have to worry about malaria etc.

Bella_Bluebell

If you have jabs before getting pregnant, you should be aware that after having typhoid you need to wait three months at least before trying to conceive.

I flew at 27 weeks (the cut off for most airlines to fly without doctor's certificate is 28 weeks) and was pretty uncomfortable in economy.

The other thing to think about is that it is very hot in Thailand and Cambodia and when pregnant you feel warm even when everyone else is wrapped up in scarves and gloves! If you go pregnant, you will need to take things very slow unless you are coming from a hot climate.

BB

Bella_Bluebell

Just another thought - the above poster made a very good point about travelling in the first trimester. I was sick 12 times a day for the first five months and am not normally a sickly person - you never know how your body is going to react. Even if you are not sick, most people are v v tired in the first trimester. I read once that the effort your body puts in into growing the foetus at this time is equivalent to climbing a mountain. If you are planning on travelling during that time, I would not book until the last minute or only put down a small deposit. I don't want to sound like a party pooper but pregnancy can be a strange time - but v wonderful too

BB

angethereader

My two cents:
I could not possibly have tolerated travel at all during my first pregnancy (I didn't gain ANY weight till the 5th month because I was so sick).
I could have done it with ease during my second pregancy. There is no way to know ahead of time how you will feel.

KimJapan

I can't believe I forgot about the morning sickness...or in my case, 24 hour a day sickness from the 9th week on. I lost 8 kilos while pregnant. But, as I was so sick, I learned quickly to incorporate it into my schedule. I would teach a class, be sick, teach another class...after the first few weeks I was a pro and had just accepted it as a part of pregnancy. I still travelled...but I'll be honest and tell you it wasn

KimJapan

ooops.
wasn't nearly as pleasant as travelling with our daughter. We've had so many wonderful trips with her.

language_buddy

Thank you so much for the helpful tips from Moms! This will help greatly in our research and decision making already. I figure, no matter where we go on vacation next year, travel insurance and cancellation options are an absolute must. We'll see where we end up

KimJapan

Bear in mind that virtually every travel insurance policy I have ever looked at excludes pregnancy and pregnancy related illnesses or complications, both for cancellation and for medical. As far as I know, your only medical coverage abroad would be anything covered by your existing hoome insurance

Cicerone

Good advice so far. Some random thoughts:

1. You can't get a vaccine for malaria, but have to take medication starting just before, during and after the trip. It is not recommended that you take this if you are pregnant, so you then have to decide (1) whether to skip malarial areas or (2) whether to go and just slather on the bug repellent. Of course ask your doctor whether the bug repellent would have any risks itself, as you have to use one which contains DEET. The risk of actually contracting malaria or dengue fever are quite low, but you may not want to encounter them if you are pregnant. Your ob/gyn is probably not familiar with travel to these areas, and will probably look at the cdc.gov website as a guide, which considers parts of Thailand and Cambodia to be a risk for malaria. However, the site indicates that Bangkok has a much lower risk than the remote areas around Chiang Rai; but you options may become more limited if you go by that website.

2. As noted above you should get vaccines now before you get pregnant. I would recco hepatitis and an update for tetanus. You can look at the cdc.gov website for other recommended vaccinations for countries you are considering visiting.

3. The cdc website mentions almost nothing about Dengue fever, which is also borne by mosquitoes, and for which you cannot take any preventative medicine, just use bug spray and avoid prone areas. Unfortunately, all of Asia is prone to Dengue and some areas have worse outbreaks from time to time, but the cdc website does not list them. There have been cases even in squeaky-clean Singapore, albeit not in several years now. This disease is debilitating but not life-threatening (unless it develops into hemorrhagic fever), but I don't know about its effects on a fetus, as any fever can be an issue when you are pregnant.

4. Notwithstanding the need for vaccines, the illness most prevalent is a mild stomach upset, and many people take an antibiotic when this happens. Lomotil and Imodium are frequently prescribed here; some people from the US carry these or others with them. I am not sure whether taking an antibiotic would be a good idea during pregnancy and if so, whether certain types of antibiotics should be avoided. If your doctor indicates that you should not take antibiotics, then you may be pretty uncomfortable if you get ill here, and also you would need to be careful about dehydration. Also, this combined with any morning sickness could be a pretty serious condition, as you could become quite dehydrated. If antibiotics are OK, you should bring a supply of whatever type she/he believes is appropriate, as you may not find that particular medication available in Thailand or elsewhere.

5. I agree that heat and humidity can be quite exhausting, even if you are not pregnant. You will have to be careful about dehydration especially. I don't know the time of your trip, if you can avoid the rainier months, you will have less humidity, although in general it is almost always quite humid here. Exceptions would be Hong Kong from October through about the first week in February when the weather is extremely pleasant and dry. Take a look at weatherbase.com for info on weather on various places.

6. Asian cuisine generally does not use milk, yoghurt or cheese (other than Indian cuisine which is hard to find other than in Hong Kong or Singapore), so you may be challenged to get adequate calcium every day. Unless you are staying at a larger international type hotel, you probably will not find cheese or milk readily available, and may not find it in markets in smaller villages. You might want to bring powdered milk and/or calcium supplements.

If you are just talking about a trip to Bangkok, a hop to Ankor Wat and maybe sticking to the near-in areas around Chiang Mai, I think the trip is doable as those areas are very developed for tourism; and if you are careful with the bug spray in Ankor Wat and avoid the really rainy season I think the risk is quite low. If you are talking about an overland trip to more remote areas, then I think the health issues become greater, as you will have a harder time getting quickly to good medical care, have more malarial/Dengue risks and will have more chances for dodgy meals that may lead to stomach upsets. If you want to do a trip to say Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore then I would say no issue at all as medical care is excellent, malarial/Dengue risk is extremely low and food preparation quality is extremely high. (Thousands of expat women have babies in all three places every year, I could even recco some doctors in Singapore and Hong Kong....)