To go off sick at 28 weeks pregnant?

[Hellskitchen24]

I’m a staff nurse working in a very heavy, high acuity role, on my feet most of the day, 12.5 hour shifts, plus 40 minutes to and from work by the time I’ve walked to to the car, driven, parked, walked to work etc. Up at 5:30am, back 20:30-21:00, so out the house 14+ hours a day. I do two on two off currently and have done this for the last 4 months without a break. I have no annual leave left and haven’t had any since October.

I am shattered. My back is killing me from the length of the shifts, the size of my pregnancy (I’m massive!), and existing back pain (from a car accident years ago). Obviously I cannot take anything beyond paracetamol which does nothing. I have sciatic pain shooting up my left leg, and pelvic girdle pain. I’m not sleeping at night properly; I’m lucky if I get 3 hours or so between shifts. I’m fatigued beyond belief. Even my days off don’t allow me to recover physically at present as just lying on the sofa all day isn’t possible in the real world. I had hyperemesis in the first trimester, lost weight, and barely ate or drank in 6 weeks. I’m still medicated for it now and get nausea in the evenings.

I am clinical hospital based so being office based or working from home isn’t an option. Would I be unreasonable to go off sick?

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Hi OP NHS Director here. I'd speak to your line manager tell them the problems you're having. They can consider redeploying you to another role, which is better than losing you completely.

You can self refer to occupational health for advice and they can make recommendations to your manager.

You can also get advice from HR - they are there for you as well as management. Check your Trust's maternity policy, you should have a risk assessment due to pregnancy.

You're not the first employee to be pregnant and need support so don't worry about asking for help, it's very common

I think going off sick (which in your shoes I wouldn’t blame you!) after a certain point in pregnancy actually triggers your maternity leave starting?

Just worth checking

I can barely manage an office job pregnant (I HATE being pregnant, and was forced to be bedrest for my final month) so no, you're not being unreasonable at all.

You'll undoubtedly have posters come along and say pregnancy is easy and you don't need time off. But they're the lucky ones who have mild pregnancy symptoms and don't understand.

Everyone is different - some women are so ill they're hospitalised throughout their entire pregnancy. My mum was forced to bedrest for the last three months of every pregnancy she had... If you need to go off work, you need to!

As per above comment OP, you should be able to be redeployed if you can work but not in that role. Has your manager not done a risk assessment? It should have been completed when you disclosed your pregnancy and needs to be updated as required. Request to have your risk assessment updated and a referral to OH.

In terms of GP, you don't need to be signed off sick completely, they can write on the note for an amendment to duties which can include not being on your feet, shorter shifts etc

I echo a previous poster, speaking to HD or Occupational Health about adjustments is probably the best thing to do. Ironically, in looking for the date at which sickness triggers maternity leave, I found this advice about working when pregnant. On the NHS website

https://www.nhs.uk/pregnancy/keeping-well/your-health-at-work/#:~:text=If%20there's%20no%20safe%20alternative,weeks%20before%20your%20due%20date.

Sickness in the 4 weeks before your due date triggers your maternity leave starting.
https://www.gov.uk/maternity-pay-leave/leave

Have you had a risk assessment done? Agree with the upthread suggestion of Occ Health first for adjustments to role.

I did 2x pregnancies with an active role finishing 11pm then back at work 7am (hospitality) and while I just about managed with dc1 (as I could sleep round the clock when not working), for dc2 I got to about 28 weeks and had to take a fair chunk of sick leave and then start mat leave at 36w.

Hopefully they can move you to a different role, you don't want mat leave starting 3 months early!

You poor thing! Your job sounds utterly exhausting.

When I was expecting my first baby in 1979 it was the norm for pregnant women to start their maternity leave at 28-30 weeks of pregnancy and that's what I did. I only had an office job but was very ready to put my feet up by the time I left.

Of course YANBU but it will trigger your maternity leave once you get beyond a number of days.

YANBU that sounds horrendous you poor thing. Hope you feel better soon

I started my ml at think 28w

i was se and had terrible hg and was wiped out

knew I wouldn’t be taking a year off after so made sense to finish early and relax and get some ma

went back when dd was 16/17w so worked out well

Idk, it sounds like you might have no choice but won't it mean that you get less time off once the baby arrives?

That sounds absolutely brutal and really rough. I remember during a period of illness, my mum switched to a non-clinical/non patient facing role for a while. Would there be scope for you to do that?

I hope things get better for you soon x

Only if mat leave is forced to start which I think is 36 weeks?

Definitely speak to your line manager and OH.

I’m a hospital based midwife so completely understand how difficult it is juggling full time clinical shifts whilst be heavily pregnant. I was taken off nights at 29 weeks due to gestational diabetes and was given shorter shifts from 33 weeks. I finished last week with my final shift at 35+6 and those last few weeks were a killer.

Ah, ok, so she'd only lose about 2 weeks mat leave? Sounds much better.

I was in a similar situation on the district. GP did a FIT note saying due to PGD I could not manage patient care and travelling around. I went to another team and helped in the office, it also meant I kept my enhancements as I went from nights to days but kept the 30% extra pay as it was from my GP.

I couldn't have carried on otherwise, the pain was awful.

Most NHS staff are trade union members. Have you contacted your rep? They should be able to negotiate redeployment for you.

If you intend to stay off for the rest of your pregnancy, your maternity leave will start much earlier and you will have to return earlier…

I should say, if they won't find alternative work then you'll be off with full pay, it's not really in their interests though as if they're paying you, you might as well be doing something!

Mat leave will only be enforced at 36 weeks.

Only if off with a pregnancy related issue in the last 4 weeks of pregnancy i.e. at 36 weeks pregnant

I went on sick leave at 29 weeks due to severe anxiety in pregnancy. It triggered maternity leave at 34 weeks (if you are on sick leave before mat leave starts you will automatically go onto mat leave at 34 weeks in most cases) and then I was off for the full 39 weeks SMP plus about 3 weeks worth of annual leave.

I do not regret it.

If there’s part of you that really doesn’t want to go on sick leave maybe speak to your line manager about the way you feel

Maybe it was 36 weeks when it triggered mat leave, not 34. Maybe someone else can clarify

Not til later in the pregnancy

I was signed off four months before my due date due to high blood pressure. I wasn't happy with my doctor, but he asked me what was more important, my job or my baby, and that was the end of the discussion.

I can't remember when my maternity leave started due to that, but I just remember being much happier being at home and my blood pressure went right down as I wasn't in that horrendous environment.