The pregnant woman is not sick, although she has to take certain health precautions during pregnancy or at certain times during pregnancy. Travel is not prohibited during a risk-free pregnancy, and most women use various means of transportation for their transfers. But, Can you travel by plane during pregnancy?
The State Air Safety Agency (AESA), in its section on passenger rights, stops at this point and clarifies what is the situation in Spain to fly by plane if you are pregnant.
Airlines recommend not to travel by plane when the gestation period exceeds 32 weeks. In any case, they recommend that you consult with the airline in question, since it is possible that the pregnant passenger must sign a document that exempts the company from liability for any eventuality arising out of your state. In addition, some airlines limit a date earlier than 32 weeks.
Regarding if necessary a medical certificate, it is only required by women who exceed thirty-two weeks of gestation, or if the pregnancy time is uncertain or if there are complications in it.
The certificate must be issued within seven days prior to the flight. Also, in general, it is recommended not to travel within seven days before delivery or in the seven days after it. However, the Agency recommends that the airline be consulted well in advance if it can fly and under what conditions.
About the certificate, just recently we questioned whether an airline can request that the document be in English, an unofficial language in our country. It is best to consult the company's rules in this regard, but in principle the certificate should be written in one of the official languages of the country of origin.
The weeks set as a limit are designed to avoid possible advances in childbirth and not meet a woman who gives birth on the plane, with the risks of an unassisted delivery.
Even with all these precautions and regulations, we can find cases of airlines that do not let a woman fly because she is pregnant even if she does not exceed the allowed gestational age, or, on the contrary, that does not ask for the requested medical certificate.
I have flown several times while pregnant, although never beyond seven months. There are no risks in pregnancy without problems. What we can take into account are some recommendations to make the trip more comfortable, especially if the journey is long, which we will talk about soon.
Meanwhile, remember that yes you can travel by plane during pregnancy until a certain date of pregnancy that is usually around 30 weeks, and flying with a medical certificate or signing a document according to the particular rules of the airlines, which should be consulted in advance.
