shattered at work not coping well 33 weeks preg

[ghostspirit]

hi posting here hoping for fast responce before i leave for work. i work term time only so my last day at work will be 27 march so not that long. my maternity starts 13th april. i have been totaly shattered and often in pain. yesterday i was crying in staff room because im finding it so hard. and i feel i cant carry on for much longer its getting way to much for me. but also i have to give 28 days notice if i want to start maternity leave. is there anything i can do? thanks

I was in a similar position last summer, except I was also frequently feeling dizzy (probably due to the hot weather). I saw my GP about the dizziness and was signed off sick for two weeks (until my maternity leave started).
If you really feel too ill to work then see your GP. A discussion with occupational health may also be an option. Have you been risk assessed through your pregnancy?

Take a couple of days sick leave to recuperate?
If you need more you could ask GP to sign you off and it won't affect maternity leave until 36 weeks.
Alternatively see what support your school can offer in the way of shorter days and classroom assistants.

moon do you mean risk assessed at work. i think i have. im on light duties. i work in school kitchen. its very busy. but my dutys are to servce the children their food. and then i clean the ovens and hot service area. and sort knifes and forks. and i put stuff away after its been washed. maybe put some shopping away. yeah might be worth talking to gp. i did go the other day but it was a different gp and i srt of lost what i was there for and went off track. because i had really bad pains that morning and every time i moved i ended up talking about that. :/ and got lost when i wanted to talk about coping at work.

gall i cant take time of like that. i already had a warning because i took sometime of work when my younger kids have been ill. also i did not go in on monday.

ghostspirit awful feeling so done in isn't it?!

Speak to your gp, as far as I recall legally your work can't say anything about you being off sick if it's pregnancy related. All they can do is make you start mat leave earlier than planned IF it falls/starts at week 36.

Do you have a copy of your maternity leave policy? Double check that as to how much notice you need to give re changing start of mat leave.

Hope you start feeling better soon

I meant risk assessed to check your duties are appropriate eg not heavy lifting. Sounds like they have done that.
Hope you get a sympathetic GP. Just be clear about why you are there. Hope you feel better with some rest. Third trimester can be really hard going.
You might also get some helpful advice if you try the pregnancy forum on mumsnet.

Go to the GP, get signed off until the end of term based on 'pregnancy reasons' you're then covered legally - they can't do anything (well they can try but it will be unlawful). I do a boring office job and have just finished now at 35 weeks as I'm too tired, I absolutely couldn't have been doing what you're doing for weeks now!

thank you. yeah im going to ring gp and see what they say. but not loose track. will just be blunt and say what i have on here. thank you

If you're ill, you're ill and need time off. As it's pregnancy related you can't be disciplined for it.
If you're a trade union member, perhaps approach your rep for support.

Also risk assessments should be done throughout pregnancy as circumstances change. What was suitable at 13 weeks isn't necessarily suitable at 33 weeks.

I worked in a similar environment to you whilst pregnant, I went on ML at 34 and really needed it.
I don't really have any advice but bags of sympathy for you,
It's horrible being heavily pregnant working in a hot smelly kitchen, but the end is in sight!

Speak to your GP, they may well sign you off with pregnancy-related sickness, this might prompt your work to ask you to start maternity early but it should give you some time to feel better.

At 34 weeks*