Starting University in September but just found out i'm pregnant. Advice please!

[coldwater]

Hi i'm new here and just wondered if anyone could offer any advice.

So, i am due to start a Social Work degree in September but just found out i am pregnant. Has anyone else been through similar?

I have plenty of help and support and will be due around the beginning of December. I realise it will be hard (this is not my 1st baby). Childcare is also sorted, i am just more worried about what the uni will say? Will they take my place away? Say i can't start this year? Let me start and then make me take a year out?

My plan is to start University, stay right up until i am due, use the Christmas period to recover and then go right back (so probably 4/5 weeks off in all). Uni is going to be 3 days per week and then i'd use another day to study there. I'd have 3 days at home then. I have it all worked out in my head but will the Uni allow this? Need some advice, i have not called them yet as i am so worried they will say i can't start in September.

Please tell me they won't make me defer or take a year out. :(

best thing to do is call them, Idont think they an take your offer away but they will discuss the options, it wont be the first time this has happened. and congratulations

They can advise you to defer but afaik can't insist. My friend did what you're planning to do (they did however say she had to stay off til her 6 week check) and although hideously hard work she managed it
good luck.

Thank you so much for your quick replies. I will call them today and try to fight my corner. I have studied with the OU when pregnant and having a newborn and although going to uni will be a little different in the fact i have to go out of the house, the work side of things can't be that different? I managed to do an essay just days after the birth of my youngest and passed my exam when he was 6 months old. I know i can do this, i just hope the uni agree. Its nice to know that someone has done this.
The uni website has very little information but does say you have to have 2 weeks off minimum by law but in regards to having to defer or take a year out it says it depends on your course. I won't have any placements until the 2nd year, so the first year is literally theory based.

I work in student services, and I certainly wouldn't approve retracting your offer on the basis of your pregnancy. For one thing, maternity is a protected category under the 2010 equalities act, so if they did take your place I suspect it would be discriminatory.

I would not have thought you are under any obligation to tell them yet (you might want to wait until after your first scan?) but obviously the earlier you tell them the better prepared they will be for any support you might need.

Make sure you contact your student services department to talk it through.

On another note, are you sure you don't want to defer for a year? The last couple of months of pregnancy can be tough, even if your previous pregnancies have gone smoothly. You may want/need more time off with your baby than you currently anticipate. It's easy toget caught up in the worry that another year is passing you by etc, but in the grand scheme if things a year isn't that long, and you may be in a better position to study effectively - and to sctually enjoy studying - once your baby is through the newborn stage.

Whatever your decision, it should be YOUR decision, and you shouldn't have to 'fight your corner'. Good luck, and contact student services!

Congrats on your pregnancy, btw!

Hi, thank you for your reply, it was very helpful.

I am not sure whether to call now (i'm about 5 weeks pregnant) to find out what will happen so i can relax, i've been stressing out for days over this. lol Or wait until i am 12+ weeks and then call but then i will stress out for another 7 weeks.

I am certain i don't want to defer for a year, this was my 3rd year of applying so i was thrilled to get an offer. I can't believe this baby made it through contraception and right now. tuts lol

Babies never come at the right time mine also battled through contraception to arrive about 6 months into brand new job, tut! I would suggest a chat with someone at student services before going to your future dept or admissions just to get some advice/info, eg if you have to miss a lecture due to midwife appt or something, how will the get notes to you etc. you might also want to contact the student union / they will usually have a welfare rep who might be able to provide advice and support.

hey ive just read your msg and I found out on Thursday that I am 7 wks pregnant and also starting uni in sept to do social work. as you posted a couple of months ago what is your outcome hun with the uni??? see I will be due beg march but will have a C-section at the end of feb due to two previous sections. im terribly worried about my place and I spoke to the uni and they said I can always apply to defer but my place wudnt be guaranteed after applying :( if I start I am then concerned about the 30 day placement that happens after Christmas. im really worried pls help. xx

Hiya!

Sorry i have only just seen your message. Congrats on your pregnancy!!

Well, i have decided to just get on with it really. I am going to start uni in September as planned, stay until i am due to have baby on 4th December, have a week off which will take me up to the Christmas break which is 3 weeks and then go straight back in January. It'll be hard but i have many children already, so whats another?! lol I'll also be carrying on with my part-time job. It'll all be worth it though and i'm not one to sit about doing nothing, love being busy!

Oh, forgot to add, the admissions tutor at uni is calling me on Friday to discuss the plan of action before i start! :)

Well done you and good luck!

Hey there
Sorry for my language but English isn't my first one.
I'm pregnant 24 weeks now the due date will be 14 December. Study in uni was my dream and now i get the chance to do it. Yesterday spoke with adviser she offer me to defer for a year, but i don;t want to. I live with my partner 4 years and we don;t thinks about abortion.
So now i feel lost, because first exam will be in 7 January, i will look after new born all Xmas holiday, but what to do after?? our parents all live abroad, so nobody can stay with a baby for 3 days while i will be studying.May be somebody knows good babysitting or nanny? but he will be too small to stay with out me, i don't have any babies experience =[[ so please girls can you give any advice. thanks.

roxana its best to start your own thread, but if I was in your position I would defer. It doesn't mean you have to reapply, they will keep your place safe, and there's little point starting a degree to fail it in the first exams.

Especially with no family support you will really struggle to manage a newborn and a degree: your DP will only get 2 weeks of paternity leave as you won't get maternity pay.

Its too late for an abortion in the UK now as well, except in cases of serious risk to baby's or maternal health.

Hi. I'm not sure whether this will reach you but this is very strange because I'm looking for advice. I'm in exactly the same boat and I'm doing social work too!!!! Due to start this September. Can I ask how you got on and what the outcome was?

Hello. I'm looking for advice.
Due to start university September this year in social work. I am pregnant and due around December / January depending on dates. I really do not want to defer a year so was wandering if anyone has had any similar experiences? Can shed some light? I have a three year old already and live 5 minutes from the university. Childcare would not be a problem and grandparents are on hand. I'm so used to life being 100mph. Is this doable? Thank you