Can you hike Machu Picchu pregnant or with a baby?

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Charlie

The ELEVATION should be your main concern. it is near;ly 8000 ft above sea level. If you normally reside in Leadville, Colorado...ok...you are acclimated to that elevation. Otherwise you should NOT go. Going to very high elevation when you are pregnant is dangerous to the fetus. The oxygen supply to the placenta is decreased and this can lead to premature labor, or damage to the fetus. I worked in the highest elevation intensive care nursery in the United States for over 20 years, and we frequently had preemies born in our hospital to mothers who had travelled to our high elevation city from lower elevation. Many doctors in sea level cities just DO NOT KNOW the dangers of high elevation to pregnant women...but we saw the results frequently. Breathing at that ellevation will be difficult for you...and just think about your fetus or young baby!!!Don't do it.

Jonathan S

At three months, you could probably do the hike along the Inca Trail or the Salcantay route. The Inca Trail route fills up months in advance, so you're probably out of luck on that one. The Salcantay route is more difficult. Beyond 3 months, I wouldn't recommend it. The hiking is strenuous, the nights are cold and the elevations are high.

It is possible, and most common, to visit Machu Picchu via train from Cuzco, avoiding any hiking at all. The ruins themselves are about 8000' elevation, not that high. But, there are many steps and narrow passageways and the tour will take half a day. The bathroom is also a long walk away from the ruins, a tough situation for a pregnant woman.

So, if you could go tomorrow, I think you'd be OK taking the train in. Note that Cuzco is high up (about 12,000'), and that altitude will put strain on both you and your fetus. I have tons of experience at altitude, but none with a pregnant woman, so I have no idea how you migh adjust. It's not like the women in Cuzco never get pregnant, but coming up from sea level might be a shock for an already taxed system. The more pregnant you get, the tougher it will be for both you and your baby.

It's important to remember that flying long distances while pregnant is also problematic because of deep-vein thrombosis, or economy class syndrome, which pregnant women are more sucsessible to.

My wife, mother of 3, when pregnant, always stayed down at sea level on our frequent trips to Peru. Now that the kids are bigger, we go to the mountais together and have had no problems doing regular, non-strenuous stuff with them.

It might be most prudent to wait a couple of years until your baby is big enough to go with you or stay home with somebody else.

Geoff M

Others have mentioned elevation which is well over 8000ft minimum and as high as 13779ft. This is extremely tiring even for fit people. The Inca Trail is regarded as suitable for at least medium level hikers, not complete beginners unless you're reasonably fit. You'll walk for around 8 miles per day for the first three days, and a couple more miles on the last day - but bear in mind virtually none of that is flat and is as much as 1/3 of a mile VERTICALLY. You're up very early on the first morning, and fairly early on each subsequent day.

Each night you camp in simple tents and they will cook you food, which is plentiful and nutritous - but designed for adults. It can be very cold at night, plus there was some rain while we were there.

If you were very fit and healthy I would say NO to 3 months pregnant. It's far too much effort. Anything less than fit and healthy and it would be suicidal for you and your unborn baby.

As for going with a baby - NO. I didn't even see any kids below the age of around 12 on the trail. I severely doubt whether any reputable trekking company would allow you to take a baby, toddler, or small child on the trail. There are no medical facilities; the nights are cold; the toilet facilities are pretty much "hole in the ground"; there is no electricity for bottle warmers. You are miles away from civilisation. Once you start the trail, you have to finish it, no matter what state you're in - helicopter evacuation is extremely rare and only used in life-threatening situations, and only in some parts of the trail due to few places to land. In short, it is NO place for a baby to be.

This trail is no walk in the park. It is serious effort for a normal person. Don't do it! Sorry to be so dramatic but I want you to understand the reasons behind the facts, and your wellbeing is important here, as is the baby's.

(But one day, please do do it. It's fantastic)

Rich V

i wouldnt. me and wife went and felt like **** for 2 days until we got acclimated, its way higher than colorado, we felt like we had the flu.

karen w

nope.

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