Babymoons, the holiday you take with a baby bump

BABYMOON: it's the new buzzword for travel agents as a growing number of parents-to-be swap the couch for relaxing and often luxurious escapes.

THERE'S a new buzzword around the maternity fraternity: babymoon.

It's all about relishing the moments of sleep, relaxation and intimacy before bub comes barging in breaking up the party with tears, tantrums and dirty nappies.

Mums-to-be don't need to be housebound in the days leading up to the birth of their baby.

In fact, taking some time out before baby arrives can be a great way of getting your head around the life-changing experience that child birth is.

An online poll conducted by maternity website, www.babycentre.com.au, discovered that four out of five pregnant women plan to take a holiday with their baby bump.

Editor of the local wing of the website, Danielle Townsend, said that the trend has taken off in the US and Australians are starting to catch on.

"With our (website) members in Australia, there is a greater and greater amount that are taking this opportunity, usually in the second trimester of pregnancy, to take this time out and relax a bit before the baby comes and life changes," Ms Townsend told AAP.

She said that she thinks babymooning is picking up speed as we consider having babies later in life.

"We're getting older as first time parents, and so parents are more likely to have disposable income that they can spend on this kind of thing," she said.

"Also with that (we're) becoming more aware of the change that's going to take place in your life and how special that time is with the partner, just for the two of you to spend some time thinking about the baby.

"(It means) thinking about your life and what's going to change and actually really celebrating that and making some time to enjoy each other before baby comes."

Ms Townsend said that a babymoon isn't an adventure holiday filled with adrenaline rushes and club-hopping.

Rather, it's a time for massage, relaxation and other "quiet time activities".

"For all pregnant women the more quiet time they can get the better," Ms Townsend said.

"It's nice to have that time for reflection.

"Spending time together as a couple, it gives you an opportunity to talk about those things that you might be thinking about the new baby and how it's going to change your family and its a good time to take some time out to have a think about it."

Ms Townsend and her partner took a babymoon during their second pregnancy.

"We were so busy with our first one (child) and our busy family we didn't have time to think about ... the new baby coming and what that was going to be like so we actually had a weekend away," she said.

"Our eldest child went to grandma and grandpa's and we had a couple of days just to take that time to talk about it (the baby) that we wouldn't have found in our busy days."

Ms Townsend said that the babymoon is generally more popular for first-time mums because there isn't always enough time if you're already in the throws of parenthood.

Plus, the life changes that come first time round are "huge", she said.

Regan and Kenny, a US-based couple expecting their first baby, recently babymooned in Hawaii.

Regan was involved in the coverage of the Academy Awards, which consisted of "weeks of pre-dawn phone calls, 16-plus hour plus work days, and too many burgers and cookies".

At the end of all the chaos she said: "I needed a holiday!"

"I was four months pregnant at the time and completely exhausted," she told AAP.

"We chose Kauai in Hawaii because I wanted to collapse on a hot beach and swim in the ocean.

"We rented a gorgeous, private home on the beach, went swimming each day, explored beaches around the island, read, slept in, cooked healthy dinners, napped, snorkelled with giant sea turtles, watched whales breaching, even surfing - Kenny on his feet, me on my back - all while ignoring our blackberries.

"The holiday was the first time my husband and I slowed down since finding out we were pregnant.

"The day I peed on a stick and discovered a plus sign, I had to drive to Vegas for work as Kenny flew off to Arizona.

"I peed on another stick at my office and another at a truck stop on the road to Vegas to make sure.
"We both travelled in shock, exchanging text messages like: 'it's on', while grinning and not daring to tell our colleagues."

Now the couple, in their 30s, are considering taking a second babymoon, still in the midst of their first pregnancy.

In terms of comfort for mum and bub, Townsend said that women often find the second trimester the best time to travel.

"You're usually over the initial tiredness and nausea of the first trimester and (it's) before you're too heavy and uncomfortable to get around a lot," she said.

"It's also the safest time to travel in terms of air travel.

"It's completely safe to fly in your third trimester, (but) you can have some difficulties with swollen ankles and high blood pressure and all kinds of things like that."

Having said this, a babymoon doesn't have to involve international escapades, it just means locking in some private time, and it doesn't need to cost an arm and a leg.

"It's important to realise that the babymoon doesn't have to be a big, expensive, overseas, resort holiday," Townsend said.

"Checking into a hotel in the city in which you live can be just as beneficial."