Abstract
Objective: Nowadays it is easier for pregnant women to travel abroad. The purpose of this review is to insure that healthcare providers advise pregnant women of the risks to travel by airplane. Materials and Methods: The authors provide an overview of the risks of thrombosis in pregnancy to travel by airplane and the risks of miscarriage and preterm labor. This study is based on electronic literature using the best available evidence from PubMed, Medline, Google Scholar, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (RCOG), and the British Thoracic Society (BTS). Results: In the lack of evidence-based information, physicians and pregnant women should only rely on guidelines and experts’ opinions. Conclusions: In the absence of a reasonable expectation for obstetric or medical complications, occasional air travel is safe in pregnancy. The specific airline recommendations should be always kept in mind.
Highlights
Air travel has become an important part of modern life and nowadays more than two billion passengers fly each year
Air travel in pregnancy does not seem to be harmful to the pregnancy and it is generally considered to be safe, the most commercial airlines allow pregnant women to fly until 36 weeks of gestational age
Despite the increasing number of reviews focusing on air-travel in different stages of pregnancy, the present authors’ knowledge about the real effects of international flights is limited
Summary
Air travel has become an important part of modern life and nowadays more than two billion passengers fly each year. Travelling abroad could reflect on pregnancy, so pregnant women should be advised by healthcare providers They should consider to be more careful with the type of accommodation they are going to choose, including food and water [11, 12]. The American College and Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) gives guidance on precautions for air travel, the organisations do not provide destination-specific risks for pregnant women [7, 13]. In this present study the authors attempt to evaluate the association of air travel and pregnancy and the related complications based on available evidence. The level of evidence for most recommendations is based on expert opinion due to the lack of controlled prospective studies
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