Captain,

Lots and lots of womoen pilots fly well into pregnancy with no ill
effects. My aunt flew when pregnant with my cousin back in 1940 until
she couldn't get the stick back to flare. He came out of it okay,
other than he developed an overwhelming compulsion to learn to fly
when he was 16 (and did so).

Doctors will tell you there is no problem with oxygen and so forth.
Only reason a lot of ob/gyns say no flying in the last month is they
don't want their patient traveling and potentially starting labor a
long way from home.

For flying with babies and kids, got to AVweb (www.avweb.com), click
on columns, click on The Pilot's Loungs Index and scroll down to the
very first column. Quite a bit of stuff in it that may be of value.

Best single for haulding babies and stuff is the Cardinal. It has the
biggest cabin of all four-place, two huge doors, a flat floor and it's
impossible to load it out of c.g. You can put one person in front and
one in the back with the child seat and not be out of c.g. aft. For
the first several months it's a good idea to have an adult in the back
with the baby just to be sure of things. You will also find you take
an incredible amount of "stuff" with you when you have a baby, the
Cardinal will carry it.

Noise protection for the baby is absolutely essential. During
pregnancy there is plenty of protection, after birth you have to take
aggressive action to protect the baby's hearing as general aviation
airplanes are just plain loud and it WILL cause hearing loss.

Babies usually handle pressure changes well if they have something to
suck on when in a descent. Nevertheless, make descents as gentle as
you can at first and watch the baby for discomfort. Climbing doesn't
bother them. Never, ever, ever take the baby flying if she has a cold
or sore throat or anything that you feel adversely affects her ears.
I made one trip at 500 feet to avoid a pressure change when our
daughter was an infant and the descent was at 100 fpm to the runway.

Congratulations on the little one.

All the best,
Rick

(Captain Wubba) wrote in message . com...
Hello. I posted this in another group but got no response. I was
wondering if anyone here might be able to point me in the right
direction.

My wife is pregnant with our first child. She is currently 12
weeks into an apparently uncomplicated pregnancy. She's in good
health, and has no specific problems that we know of. I have heard
conflicting advice about flying in small, unpressurized planes while
pregnant. She's very
comfortable flying, and we like to travel, and would like to travel
via general aviation both before and (after a suitable age) after
delivery. The aircraft we fly in is not pressurized (It's either a 206
or a Beech Musketeer). I had a few questions:

1. What is the maximum altitude that would be 'safe' for for an
expectant mother to fly at?

2. Does this vary with the stage of pregnancy?

3. Is there a time when we should simply stop flying?

4. Are there any resources that anyone know of concernign flying with
small children (i.e. headsets, inner-ear issues, etc.?

Thanks in advance for any help

Cheers,

Cap