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A pregnant holidaymaker has complained about being internally examined on an aircraft before being told she was not allowed to fly.
Kerry Deane, 32, was 35 weeks pregnant when she tried to fly back from a holiday in Tunisia with her family.
As well as being under the 36-week limit for expectant mothers, she also had a letter from her doctor stating she was fit to fly, the Times reported.
The mother of four, who gave birth a month after the incident last October, had booked the holiday through Thomson although the flight was operated by Tunisian airline Nouvelair.
Both Thomson and Nouvelair Tunisie stipulate that a pregnant woman must have a letter from her doctor after 28 weeks and can fly only before 36 weeks.
The mother had checked four times with her GP and the travel company that she was allowed to fly and showed no signs of going into labour,
However, two medics took her blood pressure and checked her bump before conducting the internal examination behind a curtain at the front of the aircraft, where food is prepared.
Ms Deane, her three children and her partner were then told to disembark at Enfidha airport in Hammamet.
The family were put on another flight to Newcastle and driven home to Kilsyth, near Glasgow, by the company, arriving back 19 hours later than expected.
Ms Deane contacted lawyers after Thomson said it would not compensate her because she had not suffered injury.
She told the Daily Record: “The way we were treated was an absolute disgrace … They didn’t carry out the examination in any sort of sterile way. It’s not about the compensation, I just want to make sure this doesn’t happen to other pregnant women in future.”
A Thomson spokeswoman said: “We are sorry to hear of Ms Deane’s experience. On this occasion the flight was not operated by us but by a third party airline.
“As every airline has its own policy regarding flying during pregnancy we advised Ms Deane to speak directly to this airline prior to travel. As we understand Ms Deane has instructed a solicitor, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”