Pregnant women now in higher risk group

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Anyone else pregnant and now thinking wtf am I meant to do? I've felt OK about it all as thought low risk, even GP said no special concerns, and now talk of 12 week isolation. I could greet!!

Just a quick update from me.

I went into school and spoke to my HT. He immediately sent me home.

I'm relieved but also scared at what the next 12 weeks will be like.

Good luck to everyone else.

@LatteLover12
Are you in a state school? What grounds have you been asked to go home under?Will you be paid?

@MitebiteonFrightNite that’s incorrect

They are putting pregnant women in same category as over 70’s

3 reasons -
Pregnant women have lower immune response
Pregnant women in 3rd trimester have less lung capacity so it’s more dangerous to have a respiratory disease at this time
Pregnant women who catch this will be a far greater burden on NHS as they have found with the example where the woman gave birth and both she and her baby were isolated.

They are trying to minimise unnecessary strain on the NHS

They haven’t explicitly said but it was touched on in the cobra meeting conference last night that there are examples where people have gone into preterm labour and they don’t want that to happen too, for obvious reasons

Yes, it's a state school. I'll definitely be paid.

I'm under no illusions though. My boss is one of the good guys and I know not everyone will be as fortunate as me.

I will say though, if you're in a LA school or academy you should be paid. There's no two ways about it. If you have any issues or difficulties with this please speak to your union.

@LatteLover12 I will do... it seems like they shouldn't be able to get away with offering paid leave to some and not all. Good that you've got such a nice head! Take care. X

Nemoohilistrebel it is completely correct. Over 70s are not even being advised to fully quarantine for 12 weeks. The advice is for people who are at risk to avoid all SOCIAL contact and those seriously at risk will be contacted. If you are not contacted next week, you will not need to quarantine for 12 weeks. You should still take steps to minimise the risk but going to midwife appts etc is still fine unless you are told otherwise.

@NemophilistRebel
I don't think that was a false statement entirely. What have the over 70s and pregnant women been asked to do? They have not been asked to self isolate... They have been asked to do what the rest of the population have been asked to do but to treat it more seriously?! It's also been said in the coming days (not yet) that we will have to make sure they're 'largely shielded' for possibly 12 weeks but still no mention of self isolation.

The 'largely shielded' group will not include pregnant women or over 70's. It is people who are immunocompromised or suffer with severe respiratory issues. So not just asthma that flares up with a cold, asthma that hospitalised you regularly and cystic fibrosis.

My post was saying that it’s incorrect that pregnant people are on a desperate category to the over 70’s at risk group
Not about the guidelines to those over 70’s and pregnant women

The guidelines are the same for all of them

I didnt say they were in a separate category. I said there's no need to self isolate for 12 weeks. Even the people who are on the seriously at risk list haven't been told to do that yet, we will be contacted next week with specific instructions.

34wks here. Due to have a section in a few weeks. Woken up today with a sore throat. Work in care on zero hour contract. I have a lot of people relying on me for various things. Struggling to apply for maternity allowance so I can start my maternity leave. The whole situation has gotten horrific.

@400PoundMoisturiser
I'm sure I read today that zero hour contracts will be entitled to sick pay? I know that won't help with the people relying on you but hopefully take some pressure off with the maternity allowance?

They said from this weekend the isolation measures will come into effect

@Sunnydays60

Thanks will look in to it.

Are there any pregnant people with young children at school or nursery and if so are you still doing school run or taking them out of school now?

I'm pregnant and my husband us diabetic and we have no help. We both have to avoid social contact for 12 weeks but not sure whether to take our 5 year old DS out of school yet? Anyone in a similar situation?

I would @rosea19

Nemo from Monday 23rd March. This category will not include pregnant women or over 70's. There is no need to be housebound for 12 weeks unless a health are professional tells you to, and they will not start doing this until Monday 23rd.

As per NHS website. You will only be contacted if you fall into one of these groups. These groups are the people who will become SEVERELY ill if they contract the virus. These are the people who will need the respirators we don't have. So these people will be advised of how to proceed as of Monday next week.

What are people with school aged children doing? I'm 23 weeks but have 4 school aged children. What is the point of me self isolating if they are going back and forwards to school. My husband will be wfh by the end of the week but are we all meant to self
Isolate.

@rosea19 I'm not. I'm keeping him home.

rosea19 I'm thinking I'll be keeping DD 2.5 off nursery for the foreseeable. I'm a nurse and pregnant. Feeling very nervous about any contacts to be honest.

@mambanumber5 as mitebite says. You are not being asked to self isolate. It will be your decision, not the advice, if you do. I can understand why people would want to but there is a massive misunderstanding of what has been said (not least because Boris is useless!)

Sunny he was really unclear, wasn't he? I think lots of people have been frightened into believing they must be locked away for 12 weeks with no chance of leaving the house. This is just not true! You can still go about all essential daily things like gp appts if they haven't advised against, midwife appts, going to the pharmacy and supermarket. But you should work from home if you can, and avoid pubs, restaurants, coffee shops etc.
The people who will be required to take very drastic measures are a very small group, and will likely be used to limiting their contact with people who are unwell anyway. Many of these people will already be off work for various reasons, and are likely to be very unwell themselves.

Mitebite, totally unclear, yes! The biggest issue is for those people who can't work from home. It's all well and good saying you should take all these precautions... but tough if your job means you can't. Do you have the actual link to that nhs page please? I'd like to share it on another thread but can't find it.... not helpful that it's so difficult to find the accurate info either!!!!