Uvod: Letalski promet je postal pomemben način sodobnega prometa, ki ima na komercialnih letih na leto več kot 3 milijarde potnikov, med njimi so tudi nosečnice. Te se morajo zavedati morebitnih tveganj, ki jih prinaša potovanje z letalom, saj bi ustrezno oskrbo ob zapletih zaradi različnih dejavnikov lahko dobile prepozno. Namen: Namen diplomskega dela je ugotoviti, kako razmere in okolje na letalu vplivajo na nosečnico in plod, kaj je morda nevarno zanju med samim letenjem, pri katerih zdravstvenih stanjih so potovanja morda odsvetovana, ali se priporočila in nasveti razlikujejo glede na tedne nosečnosti, primerjati omejitve različnih letalskih družb, raziskati opremljenost letal z instrumenti in zdravili ter kako je letalsko osebje poučeno o ukrepih ob pojavu urgentnih stanj pri nosečnicah. Metode dela: V teoretičnem delu gre za deskriptivno metodo dela in kvalitativno metodo sistematičnega pregleda strokovne in znanstvene literature. Iskanje je potekalo ob pomoči COBIB.si in tujih podatkovnih baz. Pregledali smo tudi strokovna priporočila ACOG, RCOG, RCM, NIJZ, NHS ter uradne spletne strani nekaterih letalskih družb. V empiričnemu delu je bil narejen fokusirani individualni intervju z glavno stevardeso letalske družbe Philippine Airlines o porodu med letom. Intervju smo prevedli v slovenščino in s kvalitativno vsebinsko analizo podatke razčlenili na kode in kategorije. Rezultati: Telo nosečnice in ploda se s hipobaričnim okoljem in hipoksijo sooča ob pomoči kompenzatornih mehanizmov. Za zmanjševanje vplivov nižje vlažnosti na letalu so potrebni preventivni ukrepi (hidracija, gibanje, udobna oblačila, kompresijske nogavice). Nosečnica mora upoštevati varnostno mejo 1mSv, saj višji odmerki sevanja lahko povzročijo slabše izide nosečnosti. Potrebne bi bile dodatne raziskave o varnosti potovanja z letalom v nosečnosti. Philippine Airlines dovoljuje letenje nosečnicam do dopolnjenega 35. tedna gestacije. Po zakonu imajo vsako leto enotedensko izobraževanje o urgentnih stanjih med letom. Ob pojavu urgentnega stanja med letom najprej obvestijo pilota, si razdelijo naloge, med potniki poiščejo zdravstvene delavce, pokličejo zdravniško ekipo na tleh in po njenih navodilih ustrezno ukrepajo. Razprava in sklep: Več dejavnikov pogojuje varnost nosečnic med poleti, in sicer okoljski dejavniki, dejavniki, ki se razlikujejo glede na letalsko družbo, dejavniki tveganja pri posamični nosečnici ter nepredvidljivi dejavniki. Strokovna literatura se bolj nagiba k temu, da je potovanje z letalom za nosečnice varno. Strokovna priporočila sicer obstajajo in omenjajo preventivne ukrepe za izogibanje morebitnim zapletom, a ne opozarjajo na vse dejavnike tveganja, omenjene v tem diplomskem delu. Smiselno bi bilo opraviti obsežnejše raziskave in na novo evalvirati omejitve ter redefinirati, katerim nosečnicam bi bilo treba odsvetovati letenje. Premisliti bi bilo dobro tudi o vnovični presoji potreb po pripomočkih in instrumentih, bolj podrobno raziskati program usposabljanj različnih letalskih družb ter določiti vsebine, ki jih mora vsak zaposleni preučiti, da bo znal pravilno ravnati v kritičnih trenutkih. Razdelitev nalog med letalsko osebje ob pojavu zapletov je nujna, to stori vnaprej določena glavna stevardesa. Tako omogočijo najhitrejši začetek nudenja pomoči. Pri optimiziranju obravnave na letalu bi bilo v veliko pomoč tudi poročanje o zapletih Nacionalnemu odboru za varnost prevoza. Za raziskovanje vpliva okolja na letalu na patofiziologijo telesa nosečnice in ploda bi bila primernejša drugačna metodologija. Introduction: Air travel is an important mode of modern transport with over 3 billion passengers on commercial flights, including pregnant women. They should be aware of probable risks of air travel, as appropriate care in case of complications due to various factors can be given too late. Purpose: The purpose is to find out how environmental conditions on the plane affect the pregnant women and fetus, what poses a potential danger to them during the flight, in which health conditions such travel may not be advised, to research limits of different airlines, how the aircrafts are equipped with instruments and medicines and how flight crew are trained on medical measures in case of emergencies. Methods: In the theoretical part a descriptive method and qualitative method of systematic overview of the literature was used. The search was conducted through COBIB.si and foreign databases. We also reviewed the expert recommendations of ACOG, RCOG, RCM, NIJZ, NHS. and the official websites of certain airlines. In the empirical part, a focused individual interview was conducted with Philippine Airlines’ stewardess about childbirth during the flight. We translated the interview into Slovene and with qualitative content analysis breaking the data down into codes in categories. Results: The body of the pregnant woman and the fetus copes with the hypobaric environment and hypoxia with the help od compensatory mechanisms. Preventive measures (hydration, movement, comfortable clothing, compression stockings) are needed to reduce the effects of lower humidity on the aircraft. The pregnant woman must observe a safety limit of 1mSv, as higher radiation doses can lead to bad pregnancy outcomes. Further research on the safety of air travel during pregnancy would be needed. Philippine Airlines allows pregnant women to fly until the 35th week of gestation. By law, they have one week-long training on emergency situations during the year each year. In the event of an emergency during the flight, they first inform the pilot, divide the tasks, find medical workers among the passengers, call the medical team on the ground and take the necessary measures according to their instructions. Discussion and conclusion: Several factors determine the safety of pregnant women during the flight, namely environmental factors, factors that differ depending on the airline, risk factors that each pregnant woman has and unpredictable factors. The professional literature is more inclined to make traveling by plane safe for pregnant women. Although expert recommendations exist and mention preventive measures against complications, they do not warn against all the risk factors mentioned in this diploma work. It would make sense to re-evaluate restrictions and redefine which pregnant women should be advised not to fly. It would also make sense to reconsider the need for tools and instruments depending on previous needs. It would be necessary to investigate in more detail the training program of different airlines and to determine the content that each employee must study in order to be able to react properly at critical moments. The division of tasks among the flight crew in the event of complications is absolutely necessary, and should be done by a pre-determined chief flight attendant. In this way, they enable the fastest possible start of providing assistance. Reporting complications to the National Transportation Safety Board would also be of great help in optimizing on-board handling. A different methodology would be more appropriate to investigate the influence of the environment on the aircraft on the pathophysiology of the body of the pregnant woman and the fetus.