Medical Evacuation for Pregnant Travelers

In our chapter on insurance, we point out that travel insurance for pregnant women is very difficult to find and that your own medical insurance may specifically exclude pregnancy-related problems from what it will cover overseas.  Much the same problem exist when it comes to medical assistance or medical evacuation companies.

Very few medical evacuation companies are prepared to handle pregnancy-related emergencies, and medical assistance companies, which arrange medical evacuation or medical care away from home, are very hesitant to take care of pregnant patients.

It is wise, therefore, to check this out ahead of time. 

Medical assistance companies can usually be found through your travel insurance agent, the yellow pages, or an on-line search via the Internet.  Once you have found one, you need to ask if they have arrangements to handle pregnancy-related problems.

Such measures should include a standing arrangement with a prenatal transport team affiliated with a major medical center.  These teams are composed of a doctor, nurse and often a respiratory therapist who are experts both in the care of pregnant women and newborn infants, and in the transport of sick patients.  They should know, for instance, how to position a pregnant woman in the aircraft to avoid excessive G-forces against the cervix during take-off and landing.

The team should also be equipped to handle emergencies in remote locations.  As you will see in our chapter on obstetrical complications, some patients simply cannot be safely transported to a better location and the emergency must be handled on the spot. A skilled and experienced prenatal team will know best how to make these judgment calls.

An agency qualified to handle obstetrical emergencies will probably be certified by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS).  You should find them listed on their web site (www.camts.org). 

Situations that may result in the need for emergency medical transport include miscarriage, tubal pregnancy, premature labor, premature rupture of the bag of waters, late trimester bleeding, toxemia and other medical complications of pregnancy.