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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to plan to be pregnant while pursuing a pgce in primary education

81 replies

giggles123 · 23/03/2011 23:33

Hi, does anybody know of anyone out there who has attempted a pgce programme while pregnant. Plan is to deliver in the summer so conveniently after the baby is born. Please kindly respond.

OP posts:
GilmoreGeek · 23/03/2011 23:42

Is this your first child?
Some of my friends are/have been doing PGCEs and say it's really hard. They often get very little sleep. Do you think you could cope with that during pregnancy?

Alambil · 23/03/2011 23:47

my friend got pregnant on our PGCE. She had to stop in May to go on Maternity Leave as she couldn't cope. She had her baby in the July and came back the following September to finish.

penguin73 · 24/03/2011 00:10

Being a new mum is hard and time-consuming, as is doing a PGCE. In both cases the demands on your time are huge - in terms of the PGCE it is not just the uni study/placements but also all the paperwork/planning/marking/assessing and preparation/stress of observations. I did mine when DS was at school and found that hard enough, I can't imagine being able to commit to a PGCE with a newborn and have any quality of life (or energy!)

sammac · 24/03/2011 00:17

I did PGCE when dd was 8 months old. Honestly don't know how I did as the workload is huge. Helped enormously by dh and many very long nights- or is that early mornings- till 3 or 4 trying to get things done.

Not sure if you're going to be pregnant or new mum, but either way be prepared for exhaustion.

LDNmummy · 24/03/2011 00:23

DO NOT DO IT!

As I write this my DP (an NQT come September) is sitting here still planning lessons and marking books. He will get 4 hours sleep, (5 if he is lucky on some days) and be up and off in the morning for a day of teaching 30 kids. It is very hard and I cannot imagine being pregnant (as I am now) or having a new born and doing a PGCE. It is hard enough being pregnant and the partner of someone who is doing a PGCE as his late nights often mean late nights for me too due to domestic stuff. We have to plan everything around his schedule now and he is on go 7 days a week as planning and preperation for the following week never ends. He is lucky to get two hours break at home to eat and relax.

Just stressing the realities for you because it really is no fun. The teaching itself and getting to know the kids and being part of a school is great and my DP loves it so teaching is a great career. But the PGCE year is more stressful than I ever thought it would be when he was going into it, I think he was prepared but I have a new found appreciation for what new teachers do.

I am going to do a PGCE but am taking a year out to be with the LO, won't do the course itself till LO is two and DP and I can share childminding duties more equally.

Good luck! Smile

missslc · 24/03/2011 00:26

just wait a year- it will not be enjoyable- you work crazy hours.

MaisyMooCow · 24/03/2011 00:26

Enjoy your pregnancy and do PGCE later. :)

RealEyesRealiseRealLies · 24/03/2011 00:32

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sleepywombat · 24/03/2011 00:37

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Concordia · 24/03/2011 00:52

i have done a variety of things, including a masters, two different jobs including teaching and i can honestly say that my primary pgce year was the hardest and most time consuming of the lot.
i wouldn't do it tbh.
also, you don't know how well you are going to be in pregnancy- as someone who has spent chunks of pregnancies in hospital, how would that fit with teaching practice? you may well find yourself repeating a year or two down the line anyway.

missnevermind · 24/03/2011 00:57

Dont forget that after your PGCE you will have your NQT year - with a newborn baby. You do not get anytime to yourself with either of those things, you will have to seriously decide which one to devote your time to.

Also what about your maternity leave? If the birth was perfectly timed you would have 5 weeks at home with baby before you had to start again.

That being said people do it and survive.

startail · 24/03/2011 01:07

Sorry, just don't. For all the reasons given above and because the competition for getting a job in a decent school afterwards is so intense.

SnapFrakkleAndPop · 24/03/2011 03:27

Crikey no!

You would have to make up any placement hours missed for maternity appointments, your Uni may struggle to find a school willing to accommodate that, you will be exhausted on 2 counts and if you develop anything like SPD you'll fond it difficult to get down to the children's level and no matter how justified you are in not doing that it won't reflect well in your obs.

I really wouldn't plan to do it that way.

missslc · 24/03/2011 03:32

A friend did it with an 18 month old. To this day she regrets it and wonders why she did it rather than enjoy her daughter and do it later. She left teaching pretty quickly because of how stressful she found it.

Misfitless · 24/03/2011 04:18

Don't do it. I know single people with no family commitments who struggles during their PGCE year. There's no way I could cope being pregnant whilst doing it - it's horrendously stressful, you get hardly any sleep - all that stress would be dertrimental to you and your baby IMO.

noodle69 · 24/03/2011 06:11

I did an Early Childhood Studies degree whilst pregnant. I was there on my due date and I took 10 days off. I didnt get one essay in late and got a 2:1. I wouldnt have had any time off at all but the only reason was it was half term.

Its possible if you are committed. (I was told it wasnt do able though Wink ) I was doing placements as well.

I was 23 though so that helped. It can be hard as you have to be up all night with a screaming baby and then bounce up in mornings and be on the ball. Just think though its a short time and then it will be out of the way.

noodle69 · 24/03/2011 06:14

Also my bits were ripped to shreds (TMI!) and I had to go to an operation to fix them 4 months on. I arranged it for a Friday though and made sure I was back in on the Monday. Things like that were a bit difficult so factor in anything like that happening. Also she had colic and cried a lot on the night (by a lot I mean I had maybe 2/3 hours?) some nights so you need to be able to survive on little sleep.

Gottakeepchanging · 24/03/2011 06:34

It is quite hard for nqts to get jobs. You woukd be heavily pregnant when being interviewed. in the summer term. I would think very very hard before I employed you.

I started my pgce when my daughter was 6 months old. That worked pretty well.

You have to workout what is more important being a teacher or having a baby now.

As an nqt with a baby 16 years ago I paid out more in childcare and travel than I earnt. My childminder earnt more than I did.

janajos · 24/03/2011 06:48

I did PGCE when I was a single mum with two children aged 3 and 6; it was exhausting, I had to get up and be at the station by 5.45 every morning in order to be at my first placement on time (by 8-8.30). But I managed it; I re-married and had my third child nearly two years ago and managed to teach until 3 weeks before I gave birth. All is possible, it depends on your attitude. If you are pregnant now, don't give up. If the baby is due this summer though, I think I would wait a year before doing a pgce.

camdancer · 24/03/2011 07:06

A PGCE is like doing a full time teaching job with a full time degree on top of it. It is not a matter of just doing a few essays and going in to schools to help out sometimes. If you really want to do teaching then do the PGCE and NQT year and then get pregnant.

Also, have a good look around at jobs first because if you are doing primary teaching there aren't many jobs around at the moment. So you might do all the training just to find yourself unemployable.

noodle69 · 24/03/2011 07:09

camdancer I was in placement 3 days a week 9 - 3 and then 2 days uni 9 - 5. It was my final year. Also we had loads of essays/exams I still say its doable.

SlackSally · 24/03/2011 07:10

Noodle69

If, as I am assuming, an early childhood studies degree does not involve teaching and is based in university, it is NOTHING on the scale of a PGCE.

Obviously doing any kind of study while pregnant is hugely admirable, but an undergraduate degree simply doesn't compare to a PGCE.

If it does involve teaching (and planning and marking and observations) then you are, quite frankly, superwoman and I take my hat off to you.

noodle69 · 24/03/2011 07:14

One of the girls on my course did the PGCE and gave birth September 14th and then started PGCE September 25th at the same uni I attended.

She graduated last June and got good grades. Cant find a job though as no jobs round here at mo but thats another story!!

blackeyedsusan · 24/03/2011 07:19

extremely very totally completely unreasonable? are you mad?

Skinit · 24/03/2011 07:20

Giggles only you know what you're capable of. I was 4 months pregnant with my 2nd child when I took on a huge writing commission with the BBC...there was no question of putting it off, so slightly different circumstances.

I had to travel to London on overnight visits pretty regularly and continue to care for my 3 year old...it almost drove me up the wall but I did it.

If you have a supportive partner and you think you can do it, then go for it.