Pregnancy and Travel Insurance

Travelling while pregnant can be a bit of a gamble. “When should be your cut off date? What kinds of travel are worse than others for heavily pregnant mothers? Should you risk it if the destination isn’t prepared for or can’t or won’t offer maternity care?” The last worry you would want on top of this is “how much will it cost?” We take a look at the world of travel and pregnancy and see how having travel insurance on holiday is very important when pregnant.

When can and should you travel?

Experts differ as to when you should stop all travel if you are pregnant. To an extent it depends on the type of transport you are taking. Driving isn’t usually a problem, nor is walking unless you are trekking along very strenuous trails (though doing almost anything close to the due date may induce labour). Travelling by ship or train are, similarly, not huge problems. The main type of travel that is unsafe while pregnant is flying. The pressurised environment is arguably bad for the baby the closer to term a woman gets, and may cause complications and possible premature births.

Most airlines, for example British Airways, don’t allow pregnant women past 28 weeks to travel. Others allow you to fly after that with a doctor’s certificate up to 36 weeks and not at all after that, but that can be pushing the limit.

Will my usual travel insurance cover me?

Many companies offer travel insurance up until 28 weeks, depending on the company and the individual case. Most standard travel insurance policies don’t cover pregnancy as a medical condition, and therefore it’s best to check with your holiday insurance provider before you go. Many standard and cheap travel insurance companies will offer top-up pregnancy travel insurance policies, and it’s best to invest in one of those even just for the peace of mind it will bring. It’s also best to check the facilities of the country you are travelling to and what documentation you might need – better to be prepared than be caught short while abroad where there’s little you can do.

Do I only need travel insurance if going by plane?

No. When pregnant you will want to have the extra travel insurance in place even if you are going by train, ship, car or any other transport. This is because the main point of travel insurance whilst you are pregnant is to literally ensure that you can be pregnant and give birth in another country if necessary. Most countries have no national health provision, and health care is paid for on insurance or billed to your account when your procedure is over. Some go as far as not treating you if you are unable to pay for the treatment there and then. The last thing that you want when going into labour is to have someone questioning your financial situation. To make sure that you are covered for any foreign medical expenses, always check that you have travel insurance before booking your holiday.

Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of Journey’s Travel. Their commercial insurance website, Insuremore, offers travel insurance and a quick and easy online claims feature.

Things just don’t go smoothly for Michael J. Fox’s character, Marty McFly. Just seconds after seeing his good friend Doc Brown (played by Christopher Lloyd) gunned down by Libyan terrorists he is forced to escape in an experimental time machine, leaving a trail of fire behind. Upon arriving in 1955, he finds the Delorean has no power to take him home and he is stuck thirty years from where he belongs. If your mode of travel fails while you are abroad, whether a day or a year’s travel from home, even cheap travel insurance could help you find a route back, even if it means inventing the flux capacitor.

A Mother’s Care and Attention

Marty sets about finding the 1955 version of Doc, and prompts him to reconstruct the time machine thirty years ahead of schedule. Meanwhile, Marty manages to interrupt the first meeting of his father and mother, accidentally jeopardising his own future existence. He does this by being knocked unconscious by his would-be grandfather’s car.

When he comes to, Marty finds his mother, Lorraine, is taking care of his head injury and has developed an infatuation for her unfortunate patient, which is a Freudian nightmare no man could endure. When you are injured abroad, proper medical attention can be far from cheap. Travel insurance could cover the costs of your care and also move you to a hospital closer to home. Hopefully that will mean a more modern facility, as well as one that’s more familiar. Perhaps not as familiar as being nursed by your mum, though.

Travelling Light

When you’re travelling, you don’t usually hope for bad weather; in fact, if serious weather interrupts your journey or forces it’s cancellation you may be due some compensation from your cheap travel insurance cover. Weather can be unpredictable. Doc Brown and Marty though were relying on a predictable weather event to power the Delorean’s return journey. The Doc rigs up a lightening conductor to the town’s clock tower knowing when it will strike from Marty’s foreknowledge of local history.

Meanwhile, Marty must ensure that his father and mother kiss at the school dance on that same evening, thus fixing their destiny together and preserving his existence. This is no mean feat, which involves politely avoiding Lorraine’s advances, thwarting the school bully and his cronies, and replacing the injured guitarist at the prom to play romantic music suitable for couples. These escapades put Marty behind schedule so that he must rush to be on time for the lightening strike and his ticket home.

Assuming Marty’s cheap travel insurance provider was in business in 1955, if he had missed the embarkation of his transfer home, his policy could probably have compensated him for missing the journey. Fate is kind though, and in a flash of light and Marty blazes a trail of fire back to his future. When he wakes up in 1985 he finds his once-timid father more assertive, his formerly alcoholic mother happy and healthy, and his family more successful in general. The modern-day Doc survives the terrorists, too, all thanks to Marty’s haphazard interventions. It’s nice when things work out okay in the end.

Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of Journey’s Travel. Their consumer travel insurance website, Insuremore  offers cheap travel insurance for families, couples and singles with a quick and easy online claims feature.