Should You Travel During Pregnancy?
Travelling while pregnant is, for most people and most trips, perfectly reasonable — but it takes more planning than it did before you were pregnant, and the honest answer depends heavily on where you're going, how far along you are, and how your pregnancy has been so far.
As a rough guide:
- First trimester (weeks 1–12) — nausea, fatigue and higher risk of miscarriage make many people prefer to travel less far and less adventurously. Nothing about pregnancy itself makes travel unsafe in this window, but it's often the least comfortable.
- Second trimester (weeks 13–26) — usually the best time to travel if you're going to. Sickness has typically eased, you have more energy, and you're not yet at flying-cut-off territory.
- Third trimester (weeks 27+) — flying restrictions kick in (see below), DVT risk rises, and being far from your maternity unit becomes a bigger consideration.
Please talk to your midwife or GP before booking anything long-haul, adventurous, or to a country with limited healthcare — they know your specific pregnancy in a way we don't.
At Gloucester Travel Clinic in Hucclecote, we help pregnant travellers plan the vaccine and travel-health side of the trip. But the wider "is this trip a good idea for me?" question is one for your maternity team.
One up-front caveat: this article covers general guidance. If you have a high-risk pregnancy — twins, previous complications, gestational diabetes, hypertension, placenta previa — please seek personalised advice before making any travel decisions.
Vaccines Generally Considered Safe in Pregnancy
The core rule is straightforward: inactivated vaccines are generally safe in pregnancy; live vaccines are generally avoided. Here's what usually falls into the "safe" category — meaning the benefit of protection outweighs the small theoretical risk.
Routinely recommended in pregnancy (UK):
- Flu vaccine — actively recommended in every pregnancy, at any stage
- Whooping cough (pertussis) — recommended between 16 and 32 weeks to pass immunity to the newborn
- Covid boosters where currently recommended
Travel-related inactivated vaccines usually safe:
- Hepatitis A — safe; often recommended if travel is unavoidable to a higher-risk country
- Typhoid injection — safe (the oral form is a live vaccine and is not used in pregnancy)
- Hepatitis B — safe
- Tetanus, Diphtheria & Polio (DTP) boosters — safe
- Meningitis ACWY — safe
- Rabies pre-exposure — safe if there's a clear risk (occupational or destination-based)
- Japanese Encephalitis — inactivated; can be given where there's genuine travel risk after risk-benefit assessment
- Cholera (Dukoral) — data is limited; usually only given if strongly indicated
The principle: if the risk of catching the disease outweighs the small theoretical vaccine risk, vaccination is usually the safer choice. That balance depends on where you're going — which is where a consultation matters.
Vaccines to Avoid (Live Vaccines)
Live vaccines are generally not given during pregnancy, because they contain a weakened form of the virus and there's a theoretical (though very rarely observed) risk to the developing baby.
Live travel vaccines to avoid:
- Yellow Fever — normally avoided; see the specific section below
- MMR (Measles, Mumps, Rubella) — avoid during pregnancy and for 1 month before conception
- Chickenpox (varicella) — same rule as MMR
- BCG (tuberculosis) — avoided
- Typhoid (oral form) — avoided; use the injection instead
If you've had a live vaccine and then discovered you were pregnant:
Don't panic. There have been no confirmed cases of harm to babies from routine live vaccination in early pregnancy — the "avoid" rule is precautionary based on theoretical risk, not observed harm. Speak to your midwife or GP as soon as you can so they can factor it into your ongoing pregnancy care, but this is not usually a reason to consider ending the pregnancy.
Emergency exceptions:
In a few rare situations — outbreak exposure, mandatory Yellow Fever with no exemption possible, high-risk occupational travel — a live vaccine may still be given during pregnancy on a case-by-case risk-benefit basis. This is always a joint decision with your maternity team and a travel health specialist.
Yellow Fever Country Requirements & Exemption Letters
Yellow Fever is the vaccine that most often creates a problem for pregnant travellers, because it's a live vaccine (usually avoided) but is also a legal entry requirement for many African and South American countries.
How this is normally handled:
1. Reconsider the trip. If your destination is a Yellow Fever country and you're pregnant, the first honest question is whether the trip can be delayed. Most non-essential trips can and probably should be.
2. Assess the actual risk. Some parts of a "Yellow Fever country" carry no meaningful Yellow Fever risk to the traveller (urban Rio de Janeiro, for example, versus rural Amazon). If actual disease risk is very low, an exemption letter is safer than the vaccine.
3. Issue an exemption letter. As a registered Yellow Fever Vaccination Centre, we can issue an official WHO-approved exemption letter on the same stationery as the certificate itself. Border officials are familiar with these and generally accept them.
4. Consider vaccination only if essential. For unavoidable trips to genuine high-risk areas where an exemption isn't practical, Yellow Fever vaccination in pregnancy may be offered after full risk-benefit discussion — this is not routine.
Whichever route we take, this is always a considered, documented conversation — not a same-day walk-in decision.
Zika, Malaria & Mosquito-Borne Risks
Some of the most important pregnancy travel health considerations aren't vaccine questions — they're mosquito-borne infection questions. There are no vaccines for the biggest concerns, so destination choice and bite avoidance are the whole story.
Zika virus:
- Zika infection during pregnancy can cause serious birth defects, including microcephaly
- Zika-risk countries change over time; check TravelHealthPro for the current list before you book
- Broadly, women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant are advised to postpone non-essential travel to Zika-risk areas
- If travel is unavoidable, meticulous bite avoidance is essential (see below)
- Zika can also be transmitted sexually; a partner returning from a Zika area should use barrier contraception with a pregnant partner for the recommended period
Malaria:
- Pregnancy makes malaria worse and increases the risk to both mother and baby (miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth)
- Ideally, avoid malaria-endemic areas during pregnancy
- If travel is unavoidable, only certain antimalarials are considered safe in pregnancy — the choice depends on destination and trimester
- Malarone and Doxycycline are not recommended in pregnancy; Mefloquine may be used in second and third trimesters after risk-benefit assessment
Bite avoidance — always:
- 50% DEET is considered safe in pregnancy — apply as directed
- Cover exposed skin at dawn and dusk (peak biting)
- Sleep under a permethrin-treated net where possible
- Use air conditioning or screened rooms
Dengue and Chikungunya are also mosquito-borne, unvaccinated in pregnancy, and worth serious consideration when choosing a destination.
Flying Cut-Offs, Travel Insurance & DVT Risk
Beyond vaccines, three practical issues deserve real attention.
Airline flying cut-offs:
Most airlines have their own rules — the general shape is:
- Up to ~28 weeks — usually no restriction, no letter needed
- 28–36 weeks — most airlines allow flying but require a midwife's or GP's letter confirming your due date and fitness to fly
- After 36 weeks (single pregnancy) or 32 weeks (twins/multiple) — most airlines will not carry you
Check your specific airline's policy before booking, as they do vary. Long-haul airlines are often stricter than short-haul.
Travel insurance:
- Declare your pregnancy on your travel insurance — undeclared, the policy may not pay out for pregnancy-related claims
- Look specifically for cover for premature labour and neonatal care abroad, which can be extraordinarily expensive
- Some policies exclude cover beyond a certain gestational age — read the small print
- Ensure repatriation is included
DVT (deep vein thrombosis):
- Pregnancy already increases your DVT risk, and long flights add to that
- On any flight over ~4 hours: hydrate well, walk the cabin every hour or two, do calf exercises in your seat, and consider flight compression stockings (Class 1)
- If you're at higher-than-usual DVT risk, your maternity team may recommend low molecular weight heparin injections around the flight — this is a decision for them, not us
One more thing — carry your maternity notes and midwife contact details. If you need urgent care abroad, they'll make an enormous difference.
Book a Pregnancy-Aware Consultation
A travel health consultation during pregnancy is a slightly longer, more nuanced conversation than a standard appointment. We'll go through your destinations, your trimester, your pregnancy history and any risk factors, and give you a clear written plan of what's safe, what's advisable to postpone, and where an exemption letter is the sensible route.
Book your consultation at Gloucester Travel Clinic:
- Brookfield Pharmacy, 5 Brookfield Road, Hucclecote, GL3 3HA
- Hucclecote Pharmacy, 7 Glenville Parade, Hucclecote, GL3 3ES
When you book, please mention that you're pregnant so we allow enough time. Bring your maternity notes, midwife's contact details, and your last scan report if you have one, along with your itinerary and any existing vaccine records.
And remember — for anything beyond the vaccine and mosquito questions, your midwife or GP is the right first port of call. We work alongside your maternity team, not in place of them.