To do 72 hours of night shifts in a week when I'm pregnant?

[Brightandshining]

I have not told my workplace I am pregnant. Im very worried about doing so as I've only been doing the job just under 2 months. I really love my job but it is physically hard due to being nights. It fits in with my childcare needs as I have two other children, and is decently paid.. its also a lovely place with a wonderful staff team.
I was rotaed on to do these extra shifts before I discovered I was pregnant. (This pregnancy was not planned and is very bad timing) I am around 7 weeks pregnant.
My husband thinks I am crazy still trying to do these shifts. I just dont want to tell my workplace yet I think im in shock still and not quite decided what to do... I havent had any scans yet or anything like that.
However my last shifts (im only contracted 24 hours) have been very hard due to nausea and tiredness.. I was only doing my usual 24 hours but it was arduous.
My friend was saying I could put my baby at risk by doing these extra shifts.... now im quite worried about it...
What does mumsnet think I should do?
My thoughts are that its just the once, these aren't my usual hours, and I could just power through it and then I can just tell my workplace im pregnant when I'm ready to..

Hi op. Congrats in the pregnancy.
I work for NHS and I'm currently 16 weeks pregnant. I'm struggling with my usual shift of 12 hours a day.

72 hours isn't right. I would kot recommend you do these shifts especially when pregnant and in early stages. It can cause damage to you and the baby because you should be able to rest during the day or as and when needed. 72 hours is a no no.

Similar background and story here. This is only anecdotal, though. I did 12 hour night shifts, mostly full-time, throughout my second pregnancy. It suited us as a family and I coped well until my 31st week. DC was IUGR and had to delivered at 32 weeks. Whether that had something to do with the strain I was putting on my body, I cannot say for sure, but I don't think it helped at all.

Speak to your midwife. It is early days.

Surely the nature of the work would have an baring on this.

DP does a week of nights twice a year as part of his shift pattern and it mainly involves watching Netflix and walking round every couple of hours.

If it was a nightshirt in a factory shifting heavy boxes it would be quite a different story.

It's not manual work. It's a mental health unit. Sometimes can be busy, sometimes completely dead. Lots of administrative stuff and sometimes a lot of talking to people... can be emotionally draining in that way but no heavy lifting or anything like that. No control and restraint.
The problem with it is just the sleep obviously.. very hard to get a full 8 hours during the day in summer. I can't sleep at all during the shifts as there is a lot of work to do and I am supposed to be awake if anyone needs me.
I don't want to inform my manager I am pregnant yet before I've even seen a midwife (had a nightmare trying to get an appointment)

@Bibittybobittyboop I'm sorry that happened to you that is worrying to hear! I'm not actually contracted full time. I'm only 24hrs usually which is not so bad. I won't be accepting overtime like this again now I know I'm pregnant

Working time directive doesn’t apply to some jobs, in hospitals for a start it’s not unusual to have rotas where your hours are the Fri/sat/sun of week 1 then mon/tues/weds of week 2 giving you 72 hours in a week, but long breaks of before and after shifts

All these ‘it’s illegal’ posts are from people who have never worked in a hospital before….it’s not illegal, it’s just not cushy like a 9to5 office job, or wfh, like many on here do. Nurses and doctors are not covered in the working directive!

My night duty shifts when nursing were 10 x 12 hour shifts on, 4 off. The NHS is exempt from the working directive.

I worked full time nights throughout my 1st pregnancy. It was all I knew at that stage in life. No major issue but yes the sickness isn't ideal.

If you don't need the money, just cover an extra shift as a favour.

You won't harm the baby. Pregnant women work nights all the time.

No all 9-5 or wfh jibs are cushy

I had two pregnancies where my shifts were often like this. I'd work Friday,Saturday,and Sunday one week and Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday the next. I had risk assessments done but other than ensuring i was carrying out manual handling properly not much changed. It was tiring as hell though but I made sure I got a decent sleep at home before going in the next night. I've done nightshift for the past 10 years and my shifts still are like this even longer if I pick up extra

I think if it’s not manual work I’d do it, take it as easy as i could during those shifts and then rest as much as I could in between- eye mask, ear plugs, white noise etc.

How about only doing 36 or 48 hours of work. It's a crazy amount of hours for any person - even a young , single child free person.

So , speak to the manager ASAP and say 'I've been thinking about my diary for 'this' week and although I'm grateful for the opportunity for more hours I think it will be too much in 1 week for me to do a good job and keep my own household running. I'm happy to do 3/4 nightshifts and be on nights that are most convenient for the home'

If you aren’t feeling well and are nauseous and tired I wouldn’t personally do the shifts, you will only be more tired afterwards and probably feel worse.
Can you not just cancel the overtime shifts and give another reason? You wouldn’t need to tell them about your pregnancy if you didn’t want to.

I don’t understand the bit about not wanting to tell your manager before you’ve even seen a midwife.

Your midwife can’t confirm that all is well with the pregnancy - the first appointment is just taking lots of information from you. You won’t get confirmation until your 12 week scan.