Many people encourage couples to take a vacation before their baby arrives because traveling after the baby is born is far more complicated than when it’s just the two of you. Of course, should you decide to take a babymoon (a honeymoon before the baby), it’s important to understand what your travel insurance can and can’t do for you before your trip and while you are on your trip.

Standard travel insurance policies do not provide protection against emergencies related to pregnancy. They are simply unwilling to take on the risk of insuring pregnant travelers because, as you might imagine, there is a greater possibility they will need medical attention.

So while travel insurance plans automatically exclude pregnancy and childbirth from their coverage, but complications of pregnancy are medically covered by many travel insurance providers. For example, according to Travel Guard’s Description of Coverage for their Platinum travel insurance plan:

‘ “Complications of Pregnancy” means conditions whose diagnoses are distinct from pregnancy but are adversely affected by pregnancy or are caused by pregnancy.’

In layman’s terms, this means that common medical conditions that are caused by or affected by a pregnancy are covered by the plan’s standard medical coverage.

The same Description of Coverage from Travel Guard continues with:

‘Complications of Pregnancy do not include false labor, occasional spotting, Physician-prescribed rest during the period of pregnancy, morning sickness, hyperemesis gravidarum, preeclampsia and similar conditions associated with the management of a difficult pregnancy not constituting a nosologically distinct complication of pregnancy.’

This is just one example of a travel insurance plan’s language. So what does this paragraph mean in layman’s terms? It means that a diagnosed medical condition that is solely related to pregnancy will not be covered by your travel insurance policy.

For additional information, see these posts:
Pregnancy is not a Covered Reason to Cancel
Does Travel Medical Insurance Cover Premature Delivery?

So, can you safely travel with travel insurance while you’re pregnant? It depends. If your pregnancy is proceeding smoothly along, your doctor says it’s safe to travel, and you are early in your pregnancy, you could be just fine. Every travel insurance plan is different, so it’s crucial that you review the plan details (which are available on the travel insurance’s website before you buy) so you understand what’s covered.

Also, use your free review period to call the assistance services representatives and ask some specific questions that will help you understand what’s covered and what’s not.

Let’s start with a hypothetical story: A young couple, their newborn child, and both sets of grandparents decide to book the family cruise they have been talking about for years. Why now? One of the baby’s grandfathers has been diagnosed with bone marrow cancer and the family wants to spend some relaxed quality time together before his dangerous and complicated treatments begin.

Unfortunately, this family is going to have some trouble booking a cruise.

Many cruise lines have minimum age restrictions and policies dictating the health of passengers prior to sailing. Specifically, most cruise lines (including Royal Caribbean, Princess, Carnival and others) set a minimum age at 6 months and for many transatlantic trips, the minimum age is 1 year. The Disney Cruise Line sets a minimum age of 12 weeks.

The reason for this is that the company operating the cruise lines has researched safety and medical options for their passengers. When medical care is deemed difficult to obtain either by onshore facilities or through the on-board medical team, and of course it would be for infants, then the company deems it too risky for those travelers.

The same is true for pregnant passengers. Because pregnant travelers are more likely to need medical care, cruise lines restrict pregnant travelers from sailing if pregnant for 24 weeks or less at the start of the cruise. Many cruise lines require pregnant travelers to send a medical certificate indicating their due date prior to embarkation. Similar to age policies, you’ll need to check your individual cruise line’s policy for more information.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center expects the 2011 hurricane season to be worst than normal in the Atlantic.

Current 2011 Hurricane Predictions for the Atlantic

NOAA predicts a 70% chance of 12 to 18 named storms, including 6 to 10 hurricanes. In addition, 3 to 6 of those hurricanes are expected to significantly disrupt travel and weather.

Current 2011 Hurricane Prediction for the Pacific

NOAA predicts a 70% chance of 9 to 15 named storms, including 5 to 8 hurricanes. In addition 1 to 3 of those are expected to be major hurricanes.

In the aftermath of previous storms, U.S. citizens traveling abroad have encountered uncomfortable and, in some cases, dangerous conditions that lasted several days while awaiting transportation back home. In addition, many U.S. travelers were forced to delay travel plans due to infrastructure damage to airports or limited flight availability. Roads that are washed out or obstructed by debris adversely affect access to airports and land routes into and out of affected areas.

Protecting your Travel

It’s important to remember your travel insurance benefits must be in effect before a storm is named if you are to have coverage for hurricane-related travel disasters. This includes the following benefits:

• trip cancellation
• trip interruption
• travel delay

In addition, travel insurance protection for hurricanes cannot be purchased once the storm is named.

Staying on Top of Hurricane Warnings

NOAA’s National Hurricane Center recently joined the Twitter-sphere and has two Twitter accounts: one for the Atlantic basin, which includes the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean, and one for the Eastern North pacific basin.  Stay on top of alerts like public advisories on tropical cyclones and tropical weather warnings.

On World Blood Donor day, the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights the need for blood donation (especially in developing countries) and honors the millions of people who donate blood every year. This annual event focuses on motivating people to become blood donors and demonstrates how health systems have worked to make blood donation safe and transfusions more accessible.

Theme

The theme for this year’s World Blood Donor Day is: “More blood: More life,” a theme that reinforces the need for people around the globe to donate life-saving blood.

A few facts

According to the World Blood Donor day site:

Take a moment and consider whether you can give blood this week. You never know, it could save your life.

Many families view their pets as four-legged family members. The average American pet owner will spend between $150 and $275 on pet-boarding services in 2011 according to the American Pet Products Association. As more and more lodging becomes pet friendly, many pet owners are taking their pets with them when they travel.

Traveling safely with your pet in a car

When traveling with your pet, there are a few basics to remember:

• Buckle up – according to a 2009 survey by the American Pet Products Association, 61 percent of pet owners do not secure or restrain their dogs in a moving vehicle. Unrestrained dogs can distract the driver, a known driving hazard. Unrestrained pets can also become seriously injured or cause serious injury to others in a car accident. Just like ensuring your kids are buckled up, it’s important to buckle up your pets.  A number of dog seat belts and carriers are available for purchase at any pet products store. Of course, traveling cats are far better off secured in a carrier.
• Stay hydrated – just as with humans, pets have to stay hydrated because hydration is how they remain cool and avoid heat stroke. When the weather heats up, dehydration and heatstroke in pets is far more common because of their fur coats. Portable water bowls are an easy packing item to ensure that your pets receive enough water throughout the day while traveling.

Traveling safely with your pet in an airplane

When traveling with your pet in an airplane, it’s important to understand:

• Pets who are small enough can travel in the cabin of the airplane (under the seat in front of you) in a pre-approved container.
• Pets who are too large to fit under the seat can travel in the cargo area in containers that are strong and well ventilated. These containers must be large enough for the dog to stand up, turn around, and lie down comfortably.

As always, check with the airline for specific requirements for carriers, and check the rules at your destination for vaccinations, quarantines, etc. before you travel.

Getting injured or becoming ill on a cruise vacation is a lot more common than you might think – cruise ships originate from and travel to and through many countries guaranteeing far greater exposure to global viruses and more. In addition, there are no common standards defining minimal credentials for medical doctors or the equipment available to them. While the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) has developed recommendations for onboard medical facilities, these are adopted voluntarily by the cruise operators.

While spending time in the cruise ship’s medical ward is not on your travel agenda, it’s important to understand what you are facing if this happens.

At a minimum, most ship infirmaries will have:

• one or more doctors and nurses
• equipment for delivering oxygen
• cardiac defibrillators
• external pacemakers
• stretchers and wheelchairs
• immobilization equipment for back and neck injuries
• sutures, medicines, and bandages

In short, a cruise ship’s onboard medical facilities are no substitute for a fully stocked and fully staffed medical hospital. If you have a medical emergency while on your cruise, you could be shelling out a lot of money because, except for minor illnesses and injuries, you will have to be medically airlifted off the boat to the nearest hospital where you can adequately be treated.

Of course, after you are treated, you’ll also have to get back to the ship (if possible) or back home.  Having adequate travel medical coverage and evacuation coverage is the only way to protect yourself in this situation.