To not be asked by 60 children where babies come from?

[jipori]

I'm a midwife and have been asked (along with others) to go and speak to my son's school year about my job.

They are in year 1.

I just feel like my job opens me up to a whole host of questions. Even from explaining how babies are actually born.

DS is very aware, but I know other parents aren't as open.

I love talking about my job, but I feel like this could end in disaster?

AIBU to say no?

If you did want to I would take in a fetal model set if you have access to one and show them how a baby develops. Perhaps with fruit of similar size so they can touch and hold it and compare it.

Then talk about your uniform and different things you wear / the fancy little watch will have them enthralled 😂.

Show the equipment you use to listen to the heart, and let them try it on each other if it's not delicate. Let them listen to a heart beat, see an ultrasound and guess where the head is.

However, having taught Sex Ed at Secondary it often brings up quite sensitive topics, I've had students ask what a miscarriage is or how you 'lose' a baby as that happened to their parents when they were younger and stories of still birth and things that even at 11+ they don't really have an understanding of but are terms they have heard used at home. So I might decide not to on that front.

Do u know what op I think I’d pass this. Too complicated. Too many ifs just be busy and save the headache.

If you don't want to do it or don't think it's appropriate, don't do it. It doesn't really matter what the reason is. You're not obliged to do these things.

This is something that kids that age do not need to know. That information should be given at home when the question arises.
I would keep my child away from that talk.
A nurse talking about care in hospital or at home or first response is completely different.

Of course you don't have to do it, but year 1 is such a brilliant age for inquisitive questions. (And yes, I know that's part of the concern). If you have the time, I'd do it like pp said, you're there to help mummies with babies in their tummies. If you get asked how they get there, that's not part of your job, they'll have to ask the teacher.

Tbh, it feels like school perhaps haven't thought this through but it would be great if you did it. As a parent of kids that age, I'd have no problem with it. We need to stop being so Victorian about all things biological and the more things are normalised the better.

My son is in year 1 and I'd have no problem with this. He already knows where babies come out from as he has a 9 month old brother and asked me how he would get out!

Be very careful - what is normal and everyday to you could frighten and horrify young girls into never having kids. I don't mean teen pregnancies; I mean never.

Nah whoever has asked you to do it is being a bit short- sighted. Just say no

My 5 year old is less interested in how the baby "pops out" and more interested in hearing the heartbeat on the doppler and finding out how to take blood pressure if you do decide to do it there's easy distractions - I'd probably be a pass though 😂

I don't think she's going to give the worst stories. You can just do a basic talk about how you help babies be delivered. If they ask how they're delivered you can say either through the vagina or sometimes as a Caesarean and explain what that is. No need to go into horror stories.

One of the parents school is a funeral director and did a similar talk to them when that I think they were about seven or eight. He just kept it really basic but the kids found it fascinating. I think learning about birth and death is healthy and the younger th3 better to be honest! Just deflect the questions you don't want to answer about sex

Can you read a couple of 'Mummy's Having a Baby' books aimed at that age group so you get a feel for how to pitch it?

But really, if you're at all conflicted, maybe a polite pass, or offer to speak to older kids if you'd really like to engage.

I’m sure police officers and firefighters speaking to a group of five year olds wouldn’t be telling them the harsh realities of their jobs or anything they might be too young to understand. If you wanted to, I’m sure you could talk about your job in an appropriate way but it sounds like you don’t want to. I would imagine the teacher would deal with any tricky questions.

Just to possibly put your mind at ease a bit I used to teach this age group and was pregnant with a very inquisitive class! I lived in constant fear of the “how did the baby get in there” question but it didn’t come up once. The children asked me loads of questions and we talked about the baby a lot but that didn’t even seem to occur to them, I think they just saw it as a normal thing to become a mummy. At that age they also want to show off their own knowledge a lot so I imagine rather than questions you’d get a lot of my mummy, auntie, neighbour, mummy’s friend etc had a baby type statements.