Medical considerations for the pregnant traveler

The care of pregnant travelers requires clinical information and skills that are derived from many disciplines. Issues to be considered include the safety of both mother and fetus during commercial air travel, vigorous exercise, scuba diving, and even high-altitude trekking. Immunizations require a balanced approach to the risk of disease versus the risks of vaccine complications. Safe or treated water sources are of paramount importance to prevent unnecessary exposure to antimicrobial and antiparasitic agents during pregnancy. Malaria prophylaxis is made even more difficult by an increasingly widespread resistance of Plasmodium species to chloroquine.