Flying While Pregnant and How Late You Can Fly

Is It Safe to Fly While Pregnant?

For most people, yes. If your pregnancy is healthy, an occasional flight is almost always fine, and the UK's Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) has found no evidence that flying causes miscarriage, early labour or your waters to break.

The cabin itself is safe too, says ACOG. The air pressure is lower, which can slightly reduce the oxygen in your blood, but your body adjusts, and the extra radiation at altitude isn't a worry for occasional travel. If you fly often, or you work as cabin crew, ACOG suggests asking your doctor how much flying is safe for you.

Flying in Each Trimester

First Trimester

You can fly, but it's often not the comfiest time, since morning sickness usually only eases by mid-pregnancy. The first and third trimesters are also when the most common pregnancy emergencies happen, so ACOG suggests looking up the nearest hospital or clinic wherever you're staying.

Second Trimester

ACOG calls weeks 14 to 28 the best time to travel: your energy is usually back, morning sickness has eased or gone, and you can still move around easily. If you get to choose your dates, put a long-haul trip here.

Third Trimester

From 28 weeks, long hours in a seat get harder and the chance of going into labour goes up, which is why ACOG says travel may be riskier. It's also when many airlines start asking for a letter, and when the cutoffs in the table below start to matter. If labour does start mid-flight, the RCOG points out there's no guarantee anyone on board is trained to help, and the pilot may have to divert.

How Late You Can Fly on Each Airline

Every airline sets its own rules, and some change them depending on how long the flight is. These are the rules five major airlines publish on their own pages, read in November 2026:

Delta doesn't set a limit or ask for a certificate, though it suggests checking with your doctor if you're flying after your eighth month. American Airlines needs approval from your physician and a special assistance coordinator, plus a passenger medical form, before you fly within 7 days of delivery on those short domestic flights. A coordinator also has to clear any international or overwater flight within 4 weeks of your due date.

Qantas is careful to call its weeks only minimum requirements, not a promise that travel is safe at any particular point in your pregnancy, and it tells you to get advice from your own doctor before you fly.

ACOG's 36 weeks is only a general guide, and your own airline's rule is the one that counts. If yours isn't listed here, read its pregnancy page before you book, and count the weeks to your flight home as well as your flight out.

The Doctor's Letter and What It Says

Once you're past 28 weeks, your airline may want a letter from your midwife or doctor, and the RCOG notes that some airlines have their own forms you'll need at any stage. Virgin Australia wants the letter dated no more than 10 days before you fly. For international or overwater flights close to your due date, American Airlines wants a note saying you were examined in the past 48 hours.

Emirates spells out what its certificate has to confirm, and it's a handy checklist to take to your doctor whichever airline you're flying:

• Whether it's a single or multiple pregnancy
• That there are no complications
• Your estimated due date
• The latest date your doctor expects you to be fit to travel
• That you're in good health, with no known reason you can't fly

Ask for the letter early. The NHS warns you may have to pay for it and wait several weeks. While you're sorting paperwork, pack a copy of your health record and your insurance details for any trip far from home, as ACOG suggests.

When Your Doctor May Advise Against Flying

ACOG doesn't recommend travel if you have complications such as preeclampsia, prelabour rupture of membranes or preterm labour, or any condition that flying could make worse or that might need emergency care. The RCOG adds a few more:

• A higher risk of going into labour early
• Severe anaemia
• Recent significant vaginal bleeding
• A serious lung or heart condition that makes it very difficult to breathe
• Sickle cell disease with a recent sickle crisis

With a complication, Qantas, Virgin Australia and Emirates ask for medical clearance rather than a standard letter. ACOG recommends a prenatal check-up 4 to 6 weeks before you leave, and that's the time to bring any of these up.

Long Flights and the Risk of Blood Clots

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a blood clot that forms in a vein, usually in the leg. According to ACOG, any trip of 4 hours or more, whether by plane, car or train, doubles the risk, and being pregnant adds to it. The RCOG says the risk grows the longer the flight.

To bring it down, drink plenty of caffeine-free fluids, wear loose clothes, and get up to walk and stretch every so often. Compression stockings can help on long flights, but check with your doctor first, because ACOG warns that stockings that are too tight or worn incorrectly can raise the risk instead.

Tips for Flying While Pregnant

Photo: Richard Harris on Pexels

• Book an aisle seat: It's much easier to get up and stretch when you're not climbing past anyone.
• Wear the seatbelt low: Buckle it low on your hip bones, below your belly, and keep it on whenever you're sitting down, because turbulence can come without warning.
• Skip the fizzy drinks: Gas expands at altitude, so water is the more comfortable choice.

If you're packing for a babymoon, the babymoon packing list goes through what to bring in each trimester, from the documents for your carry-on to comfort essentials for the flight.

Insurance and Your Destination

Check your cover before you book anything. ACOG suggests calling your health insurer 4 to 6 weeks before an international trip to ask whether it covers pregnancy and newborn complications abroad, and if it doesn't, you may be able to buy travel health insurance. Tell your insurer you're pregnant, too, because the RCOG notes that cover can be harder to find after 37 weeks.

Then look into where you're going. The CDC's Travelers' Health site lists outbreaks such as malaria and Zika, and the KidsHealth guide, medically reviewed by Elana Pearl Ben-Joseph, MD, advises against flying to high-altitude areas. Qantas and Emirates both point out that some countries restrict entry for pregnant visitors who aren't nationals.

Planning a Babymoon Around Your Cutoff

If the trip is a babymoon, work backwards: start from your airline's last week and your insurer's limit, then fit your dates inside them. The babymoon guide goes into the best weeks to go and why a short flight buys you weeks, and these pregnancy friendly resorts are 12 places picked for a relaxed babymoon.

Cover photo: Rene Terp on Pexels

Frequently Asked Questions