[MrsRadiant]

Hi ladies,
This Is a big question and I need help deciding!
Some friends of ours have booked us into going to bali with them about four weeks ago,
It will be DH and my first overseas trip. I decided to go with because we hadn't had luck ttc'ing.
So now I am pregnant and will be 12 weeks when we go.
We are going over Easter for 8 nights and staying at private villas in seminyak.
I won't be able to have my injections and I'm a bit worried now about going!
Has anyone been over pregnant or know what it's like?

[daturah]

I have been to Bali, but not while pregnant.

I have also been pregnant!

I would say be very very careful not to drink anything other than bottled water; don't brush your teeth with tap water; don't wash your hands in tap water and then put them in your mouth; don't open your mouth in the shower... You get the drift. I would be very paranoid about that in particular.

Similar with food - I would eat at the resort for as many meals as possible. The resort food is pretty trustworthy.

The other thing - when I was pregnant, smells drove me crazy. I couldn't even stand the smell of soap or deodorant. The smell of vomit, poo, fires, rubbish would have made me want to hurl. I still can't stand the smell of bush fires because it reminds me too much of the first three months of pregnancy when back-burning took place around the town we lived in. Urggggghhh.

Bali is rife with very special, often disgusting smells. I'm not sure how you'd deal with that, but maybe you won't have the same irkiness around smells as I did!

Otherwise, just exercising the usual amount of caution and risk aversion, particularly around traffic (the road rules are pretty lax there and medical facilities are grim) would be recommended.

I saw a scooter / motorbike accident when I was there, out in the country areas. The guy's leg was so broken it was flipping all over the place. Their idea of an ambulance was three men picking up the screaming victim, chucking him in the back of a ute and driving the hour or so on slow roads that it would take to get to Kuta from where we were. Medical facilities are definitely not what they are here, and it's worth bearing that in mind.

ETA: with what I know about Bali, I personally would play it on the safe side and not go while pregnant.

This post has been edited by daturah: 29/01/2013, 07:34 AM

[brindle]

I would go if you are staying in Seminyak. It has some amazing restaurants and you will have plenty of eating options. Just be careful and eat only freshly cooked foods.

If you are staying in a villa, them you can cook for yourself too. There is a supermarket in Seminyak Square.

The Grocer & Grind cafe make their own yummy baked beetroot chips (crisps) and museli bars (it has Australian owners) for take-away treats on the go.

Sorry, I don't understand about 'injections'.

[freddieness]

I'm going in March and will be 26wks pregnant. Just be extra cautious about using water in all ways and only at resorts and don't eat salads unless they can assure you they wash with bottled water, same with ice only drink if made from bottled water . I went last year for 2wks with DS 14mths old at the time, we stayed in Legian and Nusa Dua. None of us got sick.

[bookmonster]

I went to Bali at 12 weeks for the first time last year. I was just very careful about what I ate and used insect repellent religiously. I had no problems at all.

[CallMeProtart]

I'd go. But I've never been to Bali! Went to Malaysia 7 months preggers though.

[MrsSmith247]

Whilst the water is an issue, dirty money is a lot worse imo.

Buy a bunch of the antibacterial gels when you get there (they're very cheap) and use it religiously every time you touch money or before you eat.

There are far too many good and clean restaurants to stick to eating in your resort. As long as its cooked to piping hot, most things will be fine.

Ice is fine. It must be made from clean water.

Take a probiotic for a week or so before you leave, and double the dose when you get there.

Ultimately its up to you. We have flights booked for later this year. If Im pregnant we'll probably postpone til the baby arrives. We took DD when she was 7m and it was a dream holiday.

[Moo point]

We stayed in a villa in Seminyak - I wasn't pregnant but there was a possibility as we'd done a round of IVF. We had had our injections (I'm assuming you mean the travel ones recommended for Bali) but you should be ok if you don't venture out of Seminyak, like going near the monkeys in Ubud!

As PPs said, just be stringent about only drinking/brushing teeth with bottled water, good advice for anyone. Only eat fruit/veg washed in bottled water, which will be fine at any of the resorts or upmarket restaurants. My BIL lives in Indonesia, he pointed out what we could and couldn't eat/drink - if the ice cubes have holes in them, like they come from a machine, that's ok as the Balinese particularly in the Western-populated areas use bottled water. They don't want their customers to get sick!

Take a bottle of hand sanitiser and keep it in your handbag and use religiously. Don't eat food from the side of the road, and yes the supermarket at Seminyak will be your friend!

I'm not a fan of Bali, only went as it was a big extended family trip, but I found Seminyak to be fine. The cheeseburgers at Potato Head resort are divine

[MrsLexiK]

If it was me, I would just eat hot food not salads, I wouldn't worry too much. We are looking at taking a 7 or 8 month old later this year or early next year and won't be too phased.

[*cough*]

I would go. I've been many times. I am always super cautious with the water - pretty much everyone I've been with always brushes teeth in bottle water, don't open mouth in shower etc.

Use antibacterial gel, eat smart etc.

Drink tonnes of water and use lots of suncream too.

Enjoy!