Travelling for work (uk) at 36 weeks pregnant

There's no way I could have physically sat on a train for 4 hours when 36 weeks pregnant, the pain would have been awful. Plus crowding, cancelled trains...no way.

It's not ideal but I'd just take my maternity notes and crack on, unless I genuinely didn't feel that it was possible. If you don't feel like you can physically do it I suppose you call in sick and automatically start mat leave? You have my sympathy those last few weeks can be so uncomfortable!

@Cherryon what's "local travel" about this situation?

Becouse… she might give birth at 36 weeks. Away from home…
Does that really need spelling out? 🤦🏼‍♀️

I would absolutely not go.
It's not just the travel time, it's being 4 hours away from your hospital, your husband and your family. You won't be able to carry your hospital bag with you 8 months pregnant with PGP, so you won't have anything with you if you go into labour. If you do go into labour it's a long journey home with a newborn.
It's somewhere unknown so its very difficult to know how much walking you will have to do just to get to and from the train. It's really not the same as doing your usual commute to work when you know the route.
And it's just a meeting! If you need to attend you can attend remotely. Even better they could email you the minutes. You will be on maternity leave very soon after and work won't matter at all.

Pregnancy is a protected characteristic under the Equality Act. Temporary and reasonable adjustments can be put in place, such as: not having to travel 4 hours away from the place of work for a meeting.

There is no way I could have done that at 36 weeks. I had so much water retention by then I couldn't get my shoes on and had to wear flip flops everywhere.

Are you serious?! Train travel in the UK can be pants!

And it’s not a case of ‘working or not’, there is also ‘working with some allowances made’ and at 36 weeks I wouldn’t do it and I wouldn’t expect it of my staff if they didn’t want to.

Unreasonable I'd say

Because most employers these days are willing to be flexible around pregnancy and recognise that by putting in a few reasonable adjustments such as more wfh, less travel or extra breaks they make that woman’s life slightly easier, potentially increase the time she can spend with her child and leave her with a positive impression of the organisation so she’s more likely to return?

I am always wondering why so many mnetters fail to see improvements to the treatment of pregnant women in the workplace as a positive thing and aren’t more supportive of it.

OP chose this job that included local travel though? I don’t see much difference tbh. It’s really petty of you to trot this out when everything can be waved away as “you chose to get pregnant with that job commute or that job which requires local travel or that job that requires a lot of standing…etc”

There is nothing wrong with requesting medically needed accomodation, if OP thinks she can’t do it for medical reasons, get a doctors note saying you can’t.

I wouldn’t say no and then go get a note if pushed because many boss’ will think you’re taking the piss without one. I’d just get a note and be done with it.

How many weeks are you now? I’m 38 weeks and have pgp, I’ve found travelling really painful on the few times I’ve had to go into the office lately. There will inevitably be platforms to walk to, potentially with stairs, presumably a walk at either end? Yesterday was my last day in the office before mat leave, I was shattered by the end of the day and could barely walk this morning as the travelling really aggravated my pgp.

Added to that the stress/unpredictability of train travel, the long day and the risk of going into labour (probably small) I would be asking for a risk assessment or refusing to go. Can the meeting not be done via teams?

Many companies are happy to give adjustments for women to work longer if then want to, so they can spend more time with their child. I’d be more than willing to allow my staff to start working at home 100% in late pregnancy should they wish to help them out. I don’t think it’s all or nothing, most employers are reasonable and happy to put things in place to make working in late pregnancy easier for their employee’s. By saying you’re working so you’re doing 100% of your job just to make a point doing sound like a way of creating a happy workforce.

Oh, I got very ill on one of my pregnancies but I had a doctor’s note saying what I could and could not do. If OP truly can’t do it, then she should get a doctor’s note.

I travelled that far my.car in my.first pregnancy happily. Second pregnancy I had pgp and couldn't have even if I wanted to. My midwife wrote me a note as my boss was being tricky (and dressing it up as including me) and I gave it to them cc'ing HR saying I'd love to attend X y and z but my midwife has made really clear I shouldn't and perhaps we should update my risk assessment. Same day I had a call and updated risk assesment from health and safety. I hated doing it, especially so close to going off as I felt I shouldn't make a fuss but the health and safety rep was awesome and pointed out it was less fuss than me having something awful happen!

In your case if they aren't generally being difficult I think I'd say to them that I would have loved to but your pregnancy complication means it won't be possible. If they get arsey push back via midwife.

I don’t understand why people work so close to their due date and expect to be treated differently. I took maternity at 33 weeks with each of my pregnancies as I couldn’t fulfill my ( quite physical role any more). If you can’t do your job anymore start your maternity leave.

@Cherryon God, you sound like my old boss 😂😂😂 oh what a trooper she was. Two kids, worked right up to the day before when pregnant with both. Not only that but she NEVER got ill. Or her kids. I had time off for Covid but she announced to me in a meeting “I’ve had it 3 times but wouldn’t have known had I not tested” - Eventually she was made redundant. No gold star ⭐️ for her.

I did a 10 hour round trip at 36 weeks pregnant by training.....one of those things I look back on 8 years later and wish I just said no too.

I was in agony the next day. Also learnt on that cross country trip that men in the North are more likely to give you a seat then men in the south.

If you do go OP you'll need to take your notes just in case and I would actually insist they pay for you to travel first class.

Ha, have you travelled on some of the trains lately? I’ve had so many issues in the last 2 months. Travelling via train can be very stressful and I often do 8hrs in one day save staying overnight and it’s exhausting, let alone be 36wks pregnant. Sometimes earlier trains are cancelled and seat reservations are out, meaning people need to stand, so many things that can go wrong.

Train travel can absolutely be utterly shit.

I went to York on the train recently (from Hartlepool), and had to stand most of the way despite having reserved seats. Then it was absolutely and utterly hell on the way back with a missed connection, waiting for ages in a freezing station only to find out the next train wasn't coming so I had to walk around an area I didn't really know to find a bus stop. It took over 90 mins to get back to my town on the bus and then I had to walk back to the station to get my car. Took hours and hours to get home and I couldn't imagine doing it while heavily pregnant!

1. Ask for a risk assessment (you can request one even if you had one earlier, as needs may have changed). Being unable to drive and the problems of public transport when heavily pregnant seem like good grounds to restrict travel.
2. Ask what support there will be if you go into labour at such a distance from home (which at 36 weeks might well mean a stay in hospital).
3. Ask what the plan B is if you go into labour before then - would it not be safer to go with the plan B rather than risk last minute changes? I think it's 10% of babies arrive before 37 weeks - I'm not sure of the figure for 36 weeks - but it's a big enough chance that they should be bearing it in mind.

You could start your maternity leave earlier, but you shouldn't need to.

Work are massively unreasonable. Don’t go

I am sure on that day you may last minute need an urgent midwife phonecall and need to be available to see a midwife, or have an appointment, or go in for monitoring of reduced movement etc …. !!!! So planned to go, but sorry …. if they will not take no for an answer

So she should risk going into labour hours from home, and hours from family, for a work meeting?

As for your commute... I assume you knew that when you decided to have a baby. That's your choice. OP didn't decide to have this meeting.

Fucking gold star for you 🌟
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣