To worry about this and not to want to go to work?

[NervousTeacherNamechanged]

I work as a teacher in a school and am 11 weeks pregnant. I haven't been in for the last few days due to illness but on the last day I was in I got the news that the 2 schools nearest to us (literally, walking distance) were closing because of cases of swine flu. That is bad enough, but the families at our school are often the same ones as at the other schools (lots of children in our school have siblings who go to the other school, and they all see each other outside of school.

I am very frightened anyway in this pregnancy. It's a high risk pregnancy and my first baby was stillborn. Our school isn't closed yet - they can't until there's at least one case of swine flu apparently. But it all seems just too close for comfort.

Am I being unreasonable not to want to put myself at risk?

given your history i would be worried too. i know that the likelyhood of you catching it is fairly low, but i can imagine in your position that is little consolation. does the school know that you are pregnant?
is there anyone at the school you could talk to about it? maybe take a leave of absence (not sure how this works for teachers, i know they probably wouldnt be over the moon about it)
i dont think i have been much help, but didnt want to leave your post unanswered.

Get medical advice. Follow it. Keep calm: nobody has died of swine flu in the UK, and it's going to get everywhere.

If you hadn't said you were high risk pregnancy, then I would have said YAB slightly U. I think in this case though, you are not. I'm not sure if you would be able to take time off from work just because of this though. Is your MW/GP quite understanding with this and could they write you a sick not for "pregnancy related" issues? I had time off last year with that on mine, due to a few things, and was also classed as high risk.

Sorry to hear about your first baby being still born

You really need to ask medical advice. Explain your concerns and previous history.

Personally I would be considering a pregnancy related illness until it blows over....sure I will get flamed for that but my priority would not be work but my health and that of nmy baby

If your worried maybe best plan of action is to try and get a sick note for bad morning sickness or similar. That way you can have a little time away and see how things pan out before deciding your next move.

I really do not blame you for feeling so anxious. Pregancy after loss is difficult and emotions are all over the place IME. Its natural to be worried.

I agree that you should get advice. You have to trust the advice you get though which may be hard given your circumstances.

I usually ignore these health scares but even I am feeling a bit uneasy. Not sure why.

YANBU at all. Flu is more dangerous in the third trimester of pregnancy than earlier on, but in your shoes I would feel that I didn't want to take any risk with it. Good luck however you resolve it.

Thanks for the responses.

I think I will have to go in on Monday, because I have been off the week before, but I do think I should point out to the head that me being around with such a risk that someone has swine flu is actually putting me in all sorts of risk, and see what they say. I am actually very nervous going in, because really the intakes from our school and one of the others mix so much.