Pregnant Travelers

Article Outline

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Pregnancy is not an illness, but it is an altered state of health during which many physiologic changes occur. These changes need to be considered when advising a pregnant woman regarding international travel, especially to remote locations.

Some examples are changes in renal and metabolic status that affect pharmacokinetics, cardiorespiratory changes that need to be considered in high altitudes, gastrointestinal changes that predispose to traveler's diarrhea, and immunologic changes that must be considered when giving immunizations. These and related matters are discussed in this presentation on pregnancy and travel. Also discussed are practical comfort and safety measures for the pregnant traveler, insurance issues and assistance in finding medical care.

While immunization and prophylactic medications are the topics that raise the most concern among providers, these are not the most common problems encountered by pregnant travelers.

Attention to these few basic principles will greatly reduce the anxiety that patient and provider are both apt to feel when travel is combined with pregnancy.