Flying and early miscarriage?

Hi Ladies,

Just wondering if anyone may have been in a similar situation?

I had a missed miscarriage of twin boys at 10.5 weeks, naturally conceived and first pregnancy. They had apparently stopped growing at 9.5 weeks. This followed a fairly significant bleed at 6 weeks 1 day, at which point I found out I was having twins.

At 5 weeks, my husband and I flew from Brisbane to Sydney and back again for a pre-planned weekend away. The only answers I've ever received about my miscarriage is that my babies did not have a chromosome problem and that there isn't any apparent problem with my uterus. The rest just seems to be totally unknown. I had a very healthy diet and moderate exercise, normal weight etc in the lead up to conception. The only other thing is that I had been off the BCP for just 3 mths, and I've heard that this can increase the chances of twins, but has also made me think whether my hormones might not have been as good as they coud have. I also know of all the extra comlications with twins, which already start in early pregnancy.

Has anyone heard anything about the effects of flying very early in pregnancy? Obviously many women fly when pregnant, but I'm interested about possible effects very early on in the pregnancy.

Thank you all :)

Soulmate

Hi soulmate,
I have also had an early miscarriage after flying from melb to brisbane return. I started to spot a little while i was in brissy, and then after i returned it became worse. I finally lost the baby a week later, after having had a scan, which said the baby was still alive and to just rest !!
I will never know if it was the flight or if it would have happened anyway, that's the frustrating part. I had never heard of it happening to anyone else before, so im glad i found your post. Will be interesting to hear if anyone else has experienced a similar thing.

Gorgeous Lea, thanks for replying.

The day after our flight down to Sydney I started having very minimal, minimal probably tan coloured discharge - something that I would think a lot of women would probably experience. I only noticed really because I was wearing panty liners at the time, but it did get my attention.

Then, exactly a week after our return (during which time I still continued with a very small amount of the tan discharge) I had the bleed.

I bring this up because, now 3 mths later, my DH and I are earnestly TTC. Currently I'm in the TWW and we were supposed to fly Brisbane to Perth and return this weekend for a family wedding. I've been paranoid since my last cycle knowing that the flight would fall in our TWW. I've felt absolutely dreadful in cancelling our travel to Perth (and our attendance at the wedding), but I just haven't been prepared to take another risk. As I see it, I 've done everything else in terms of good diet and exercise so as to reduce those risks, and because I've never received any answers on what happened to me last time I haven't been prepared to take that risk again.

Needless to say my Mum (generally very supportive and understanding) has told me in no uncertin terms that she thinks I'm MAD :angry::angry::angry:, as has a friend of hers who had a miscarriage maybe 35yrs ago now and who she had a chat to about it. So, I've been really torn. Thank goodness my DH totally supports my decision, even though it means no holiday now for us in Perth!:heartbeat::heartbeat::heartbeat:

I'd be interested to hear of any one else's experiences.

Soulmate

i think you've made the right decision, it's up to you and how you feel that matters. Missing the holiday is a shame, but Perth isn't going anywhere lol your pregnancy is much more important. Good luck with the TWW, hope it goes well for you.:D

Hi, I too often wondered if flying had something to do with my m/c. On March 31st of this year I got married and went on a 2 week honeymoon to Vegas, San Diego and a 7 day cruise to Mexico. I got pregnant on our honeymoon but had a m/c @ 7 weeks and 4days. I had gone to the doctor the week before for my first u/s and she said that she saw a hb and that everything was fine. Excatly a week latter I started to have brown spotting that turned to red. I went to the er and had to have a D&C that day. My dh and I often wonder if the waves on the ship and the flying maybe didn't let our baby implant correctly but it also could have been from the drinking that we did since we were on our hm and didn't know yet.

There is a website that I go to called realsavvymoms and if you look at the left side you will see "ask our experts" click on midwife and you can register and ask her questions. I asked her about flying since my uncle in California is getting married next month and she said that it would be fine to fly, so I guess according to her flying shouldn't affect pregnancy. We don't know if we are going to go but my AF is due before the wedding so will know more then.

Hope this helps I found the website to be very helpful.

Most articles I've read on the subject recommend not to fly in the first or third trimester but I've seen lots of women fly and not have a problem, so it's a bit hard to know what's right.

Very interesting question .......... it has got me thinking.

We started TTC in January this year and in February I had to fly from Brisbane-London-Vienna and then return (I was staying in London for 4 days on my way home). As this was a work related flight, it had been organised a few months ahead (i.e. before TTC) so wasnt able to cancel.

By the time I got to London on my flight home I realised AF was a few days late (very unusual for me) and got quite excited as I thought I may be pregnant however started bleeding a few days later as I was leaving London airport which I remember being unusually heavy and quite painful (just what you want to happen as you are about to board a 16 hour flight).

I never really thought about it .......... I just thought with all the time differences, sleep interruptions etc, it must have played havoc with my cycle.

Well I live on an island and the only way to get to OB/GYN services is to fly ... we have lots of lovely, happy, healthy pregnancies here and the miscarriage rate is no different to anywhere else.

I've personally flown at 4w, 6w1d, and 9w6d and will continue to fly each month to attend appointments.

Unfortunately no one can pinpoint the reason for each individual miscarriage, I really wish we could, but just going from our lovely island of bonny, bouncing babes, flying's quite unlikely. The main reason they don't recommend flying in the first trimester is because the instance of miscarriage is great anyways, and should the worst happen, being completely isolated in a tin can in the sky is not the best place for mum or bubs ... it's the same reason they get a bit tetchy flying you when you're in your third trimester as well.

Hi Guys,

Glad I found this thread. We're starting to TTC this month but have a fairly full on 6 week overseas holiday booked for Oct. I've been so confused about that to do - do we put our TTC on hold, as I've read some articles the same as Satya that don't recommend flying in 1st trimester, but then have also read that the only time not to fly is on last trimester after a certain number of weeks.

I wish I could just get a professional, final answer.

I really don't know what to do, and after reading all your experiences am maybe back to thinking that we should wait????

I'm so so confused.

but now after Diva's experiences am thinking that we should just leave it up to whatever is meant to be and stop putting life on hold - just have fun TTC for the next couple of months and look forward to the holdiday too.

I can just imagine pressure from family though that if we do fall pregnant they'll think I'm silly to put it at risk and continue on our round the world holiday.

man - confusion rules supreme at the moment!

juleswa - Well if you want a "professional" opinion I can only give you my OB's ... and he doesn't give two hoots ... he's got no problems with me flying as many times as my little heart desires ... it's by no means a "definative" answer ... I can only give you my personal experiences, but I hope it's put some of your worries to rest ...

Thanks Diva that info does help - think i might just have to let life unfold as it will I think. Just at the moment feeling very confused, nervous, emotional, etc etc etc

Sorry Soulmate, don't mean to intrude on your thread.

Thanks everyone for your responses. :)

I really just started this thread as interest to hear what other people's opinions or experiences were. Seeing the only answer I have received for my miscarriage is "no apparent reason" (which I know is common), and that there was no chromosomal problem with my babies, the flights that I did so close to my miscarriage have been something I've wondered about.

Before I took those flights I wasn't worried in the slightest because, of course, many pregnant women fly. I've read a lot about not flying late in pregnancy but not so much about the effects of flying early on, particularly on implantation (though I think I may have read some of the same information that Satya referred to).

It's just something I thought I would throw up and get opinions on. It may be different for different women also? Who knows. It's all come up for me again this week because we were supposed to fly Bris to Perth and back again for a wedding and, because I'm currently in the TWW, I've honestly been too scared by it to go(based only my last experience - nothing else - I have no "science" to back it up). We've thought long and hard about it, but for me there'll be no flying during pregnany. I think I just want peace of mind on the issue.;) I mean, we're told to reduce caffeine etc during pregnancy and before (even though our mother's probably broke this rule and many others without having too many problems?), so I guess I just see it in a similar way of reducing yet another "potential" risk.

Thanks everyone, and I hope you all have a good day.:)

Ok, this is all very interesting! I too m/c the week after I had travelled from Melbourne to Sydney for work. However, I had some minor tan coloured discharge a week before which my doctor told me not to be concerned about, but if it changed colour or got worse to contact her. Well, off I went to Sydney for work. I felt fine while I was there (just very tired!) and arrived home on the Wednesday. We had our first OB visit on the Friday which was at about 10 and half weeks. He did a scan and there was no heartbeat. I then had to wait over the weekend for my d&C. The results showed that there were no obvious reasons for the m/c and he was unsure why my body had not tried to naturally m/c. His conclusion was that I should fall pregnant again no problems!!

We have been madly TTC and are now in the TWW. My only other concern is that we have a trip to Fiji booked for 5 weeks time, but, as much as I want a baby, I can't stop living.

xo

Hi Mouse,

I have no answers for this.

My very, very slight tan discharge didn't start until the day after our flight from Bris to Sydney. It was so slight I wouldn't have gone to the GP about it. We flew back to Bris about 4 days later. It continued all along up until I had the big bleed one week later. My babies continued growing another 3.5wks past this time, with a missed miscarriage one week after that :cry:

I know heaps of women fly when pregnant with no problems. There's lots of info about flying late in pregnancy, but not very much about flying early in pregnancy. I'm interested about any effects on implantation that flying might have, seeing the first trimester is the most important development wise for the baby.

I'm sure it would be something you'd get differing opinions on. My obs was telling me that some women have run marathons in early prg with no apparent effects (not that it's recommended, mind you), whereas my GP questioned me why I'd gone ahead with the flights if I knew I was pregnant. I also now know that flying generally isn't recommended at all with twins or more, not that I had any idea I was carrying twins at that time (was 4.5 to 5 weeks during that holiday).

I guess I've just seen it as one of many risks I've tried to eliminate. And that's just based on my experience - I mean, I obviously didn't think it was an issue the first time round because I went ahead with our holiday as planned.

I'm also on the TWW now - we were due to go to Perth for a wedding and I'd been quite scared about taking a flight "just in case". We didn't go ahead with it. I still feel comfortable with the decision - the peace of mind, for me, was worth it.

All the best,

Soulmate XXXX

hey, i flew bak wards n forwards from adelaide 2 brisbanr thru out my pregnancy the first flight was when i was 8 weeks pregnant n the last a week b4 i was due..
the dr told me as long as ur flight is less then 4 hours n a direct flight there is no medical reason that you cant fly..
the only thing i was told 2 do was to make sure i had an isle seat n to get up n walk as often as possible...
the only reason they tell women not 2 fly late in there pregnancy is if the baby is born in while flying the baby gets free flights with the air company for the rest of there life... this coming from the staff at quantas...

cheerz

Hi Ladies,

This is an interesting thread. I agree with most of the others, that there is a lot of info about not flying late in preg and to check with your doctor. I wouldn't be concerned about flying in the tww.

I have however read of stories where flying affects early pg's but only if you have a pre-disposed condition - ie, a thrombophilia or clotting disorder. I have MTHFR, I have had seven failed pregnancies, and I can tell you that I will not be setting foot on a plane from the day I see that BFP until that baby is delivered. Most of the stories involved the mother developing a clot in her arm or leg - which is a life threatening situation. But these developed as the mother was already at risk. Actually I am seeing my doctor today, and this is something I want to clear up with her as I quite often have to travel for work. I will let you know what I find out.

All that being said, it sounds like most of the m/c's described here really are just one off events...I know that feeling of desperately searching for an answer, and it is hard when there isn't one. I wish you all the best.

Hello everyone, this is my first post, and probably a good place to start.
I fly for a living, have a 3 yr old daughter and am TTC another. I know many women like myself who are concerned about flying whilst pregnant. There are so many female pilots and cabin crew in australia and around the world, you would think there would have been some serious studies done to determine the facts about all this. I have had 2 mc's this year, but had no problems with my 1st pregnancy (apart from hyperemesis which stopped me flying between 6-21wks)
Most of my other colleges who have had children flew throughout their pregnancy with no problems, and didn't have any trouble falling pregnant. So.... I would also like to know whether I was destined to have 2 mc's anyway (I am now 37) or was it the flying? My OB has not suggested that I stop flying whilst pregnant, but I do not want to take the risk next time and will stop.
I do know that the dehydration, the high cabin altitude, and the radiation exposure are real.
Many airlines around the world will not let their staff (pilots & cabin crew again) fly at all, once they advise them they are pregnant mainly because they don't want the potential litigation if things go wrong and it is certainly not ideal to have a mc airborne, whilst working.
If I wasn't flying for a living, I personally wouldn't be concerned about the odd flight here and there during pregnancy.