Concerns over the Zika virus have many people reconsidering trips down south.
Now one pregnant women has abandoned a trip to her native Brazil out of fears of harming her unborn baby.
Renata Farias says her friends and family convinced her to cancel the trip even though she hasn't seen her family in three years.
She and her husband had been trying to have a baby for ten years, including five attempts at in-vitro fertilization.
When she finally became pregnant everyone around her was thrilled.
"It's a miracle. We talked to the doctor last week, we made another ultrasound, and it's perfect. It's a boy and he's perfect," said Farias.
She wanted to share her good fortune with her parents in Brazil and had planned to visit South America for Christmas.
"I was ready to stay there for two months and just spend time with my mother and my father and show the belly," she said.
Then she got a call in November from a friend in Brazil who is a doctor.
"She said, we're just starting now to talk about this Zika virus and we think there's a relation with babies, so better not come," said Farias.
Her first reaction was to not be scared off by a mosquito bite but she was finally convinced to listen.
"We spent Christmas together by face time but it's not the same thing," she said.
The World Health Organization has declared an International Public Health Emergency because of the suspected link between Zika and microcephaly.
In 2015 Brazil saw an enormous increase in the number of children born with smaller than normal heads -- going from 140 in 2014 to more than 4,000 case of microcephaly in 2015.
Babies born with microcephaly have abnormally small heads and improperly developed brains.
Health officials suspect the Zika virus was brought to Brazil by tourists watching the World Cup, and that it has since spread throughout the Americas.
The mosquito that transmits the virus does not survive in Canada, but at least seven Canadians, including three Quebecers, have been infected while visiting South and Central America.
Quebec's public health agency is advising pregnant women against travelling south.
"By precaution, we recommend that a woman which is pregnant, who intends to get pregnant, to delay her trip to that country," said Dr. Horacio Arruda.
With the safety of her unborn son at stake Farias and her husband are taking no chances.
Looking back at it now it was the right call to make," she said.
Their baby is due in May, and Farias's parents are now planning to come to Quebec in July.
She also hopes to bring the child to Brazil for a visit in September.
