Christmas Travel.
Airlines and health care providers do have guidelines for flying in pregnancy. If you are flying overseas during the Christmas season, you will need to be under 32 weeks gestation. If taking a domestic flight, you need to be under 36 weeks gestation. Good hydration and knee high flight stockings are suggested (to avoid deep vein thrombosis) if your flight is longer than 4 hrs (please check NSW COVID guidelines for travel).
When driving long distances in a car, make sure you have water and take time to stop revive and survive.
If travelling with a newborn in the car, the same applies, stop every 2hrs for rest, hydration and feeding when needed. Tinted car windows or a window sunshade help with UV protection for long distances.
Festive Food and Alcohol.
Fresh whole foods are recommended in pregnancy to avoid Listeria and Salmonella, which are nasty infections that can affect unborn babies. We know that Listeria can survive refrigeration and pasteurisation, so we need to be careful with what we buy and how we store and prepare food. Christmas ham or turkey can be eaten when served immediately hot, but not as cold leftovers from the fridge. Avoid raw and cold cooked seafood. Piping hot cooked fish or seafood is safest. Salads are fine with washed fresh produce and no cold meats or homemade aioli dressings. Please refer to the NSW Government Food Safety Authority for further guidance, particularly helpful with information for eating leftovers and reheating food, which may be helpful at Christmas time. As soon as you have had your baby, all of the food restrictions are lifted.
In pregnancy, it is advised to abstain from alcohol. Why not try a fun Mocktail to enjoy the holiday festivities.
When breastfeeding, it is recommended to avoid alcohol. We have some helpful information regarding breastfeeding and alcohol from the Australian Breastfeeding Association, which gives a guide to minimising the amount of alcohol through the breastmilk, with some helpful tips looking at food consumption, timing of drinks and alcohol strengths.
https://www.breastfeeding.asn.au/bf-info/safe-when-breastfeeding/alcohol-and-breastfeeding
Sun Protection.
It is important for pregnancy and with newborns to be sun safe. We would recommend avoiding high UV radiation between 10 – 2 pm especially during the summer months. Hats, sunscreen 30 + or higher, sunglasses, protective light clothing and adequate shade protection would be advised.
For babies, a soft hat, wrap around sunglasses when they are infants and sun shading will all help protect their delicate skin. Sunscreen labelled for babies and small children is less likely to cause skin irritation. Be careful not to put sunscreen near little hands, which can rub into their eyes.