Baby on Board

As a expectant mother-to-be the idea of a cruise holiday before your little bundle of joy arrives seems like the ideal way to relax and unwind before the life changing event. However all cruise lines have very strict guide lines on when they will take pregnant passengers up to, which vary between 24-28 weeks.

These rules are not to upset or stress out anyone and there is a very good reason which newlyweds Victoria and Michael Lewis found out last May when they travelled on Celebrity cruise lines Silhouette for a well earned 18 night “Babymoon” before there first born was due.

The couples drama began at 2am on the 3rd before the end of their dream  cruise after they had already left the port of Venice when Victoria’s waters broke a frightening 12 weeks before their baby was due.

They alerted the doctors on board hoping that they would be equipped to handle the situation however they were only able to administer steroids to try and help the young babies lungs before its premature birth. The couple then had to endure a 3 hour wait whist the Italian coastguard   reached them to take them from the ship.

Once off the drama did not end there when engine of the rescue boat caught fire whilst transporting then just before they reached the mainland. Once ashore they were taken by ambulance to the nearest hospital but was told they were not equipped to have a premature baby there, after some issues with language barriers and some help from 2 American Missionaries they were taken to another hospital which although they were unable to offer any pain relief after 14 hours of labour and finally a C section Baby girl Cornelia was born at a tiny weight of just 3lb.

So after a rough start to life Baby Cornelia  spend 3 weeks In the Italian hospital before being flown back to the UK with the help of their insurance providers, she then went on to have six months undergoing three operations and 17 blood transfusions before being allowed home just before Xmas last year.

Cornelia is thankful now a happy healthy 15 month old baby with plenty of dramatic stories to tell for years to come, especially  when asked, How did you get the middle name “CRUZ”?

If you would like to know more about what restrictions each cruise line enforce for expectant mothers and also a information about cruising with babies check our guide to travelling with Babies on board here

http://www.cruise.co.uk/guides/cruise-information-babies-onboard/

Or if you would like to check with me just to be safe call me directly for advised on 0330 303 8260 or email me at [email protected]

Marie

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