I left my job 2 years ago to do a post grad training programme (work placed training plus extra study and exams etc, paid at £40k/year). The aim was to better myself financially as I was going from a £40k/year job to once qualified a starting salary of £47.8k with scope to increase to £54.7k over 5 years. Potentially more with additional training up to a maximum of £62.6k.
Instead, the training has been awful, it is still up in the air as to whether I will get the qualification or not due to politics, and there is absolutely no jobs available at the end of the training now. There's also been a huge job market freeze meaning I've managed to get a job paying £37.8k and that's the best I can get - so basically back to what I was earning about 5 years ago.
I'm 9 months pregnant, my current contract is due to end in Dec, however my work place policy says in relation to pregnancy, a training contract should be extended to cover maternity pay, I have copies of the policy and an email from HR confirming it. Get to doing the paperwork and HR say they will no longer extend my contract, hence I've had to go and find a new job that was willing to do so. Amazingly managed to find somewhere that will pay my mat pay and wait for me to start with them, I'm very grateful even if it is a pay cut.
I've had a senior member of staff telling me it's unfair that I've been to the union about this and that I was wrong to do so. I've had another senior member of staff tell me that I should have thought about this 9 months ago - 9 months ago there was no concerns about us getting the qualification and jobs were still a possibility! Also its just an incredibly rude thing to say in my opinion. I've been exposed to potentially hazardous substances (fine for adults but mixed opinion on the effects on a developing fetus) as they didn't do a risk assessment until 21 weeks despite knowing I was pregnant from 6 weeks. I've just been left when I thought I was going to faint earlier on in my pregnancy - with the excuse of they thought I was upset and needed a minute - didn't actually ask if I was ok though considering they thought I was upset.
The general culture of the place is shit - people refusing to work with trainees, outright being ignored when you try to make small talk, members of staff publishing things online disparaging our profession.
And now at 9 months pregnant I'm just really sad that I've spent most of my first pregnancy having to negotiate and fight for things that should just be normal. It's my first pregnancy and people say you never get this sort of time again as you'll be even busier with your second so make sure you enjoy this one. I'm so incredibly grateful to be pregnant and can't wait to meet my little baby but I do feel like all this unnecessary stress has tainted it a bit.
Am I over reacting or are my feelings valid?