Pregnancy and Air Travel (flying)

Many pregnant women find themselves needing to fly. This may be for domestic or business reasons. Other women will fly because that is the nature of their jobs. This group will include pilots and other air crew. Of-course some women will fly before they are aware of their pregnancy. There is always some concern about the effect of flying while pregnant. Is it always well-founded? Here, we try to explain.

Radiation Exposure associated with flying

The overriding issue for the woman is the safety of both herself and her unborn baby. Flying involves exposure to some degree of radiation coming from space and the sun. This is because planes fly where the atmosphere is thin therefore reducing the shielding protection that we get on the ground. It follows therefore that the higher the plane flies and the longer the person flies, the more she is exposed to the cosmic radiation.

There is miniscule radiation on the ground and it goes down the nearer you are to the sea-level. When flying and the jet is cruising at 33,000 feet (10,000 metres), the level of radiation exposure is 35 times that at sea-level. It is 64 times when the jet reaches 39,000 feet (13,000 metre), cruising altitudes seen in transcontinental flights. This might look alarming but in fact, for an occasional flier, this level of exposure is still perfectly safe.

The question mark therefore is only on the regular long-haul air crew. In theory, the very early part of pregnancy when the fetus is at its most vulnerable would be the risky period. With many young women working in the industry and many actually flying during that time before some are even aware of their pregnancy, it is somewhat reassuring that there is no real scientific evidence that their babies are adversely affected. Nonetheless, in Europe though not in the United States, air crew are classified as radiation workers and their exposure levels are monitored.

What is the risk of thrombosis when you fly?

Pregnancy is a thrombogenic condition. What this means is that, when pregnant, a woman’s risk of developing thrombosis is increased. That is an established fact. What is more questionable is the extent of risk of thrombosis posed by flying. The evidence is simply thin on the ground.

Continues next page

Flight socks may not be glamorous but they are regarded as a useful tool in minimizing the risk of deep vein thrombosis associated with long-haul flights