Working and Pregnancy

[Hasle157]

Hi,

I'm an English Teacher in a Secondary school currently 34 weeks pregnant. I'm due to go on Maternity Leave from Monday, but have had a lot of time off sick during my pregnancy mainly due to low iron making me exhausted, sickness, persistant water infections, usually accompanied by yeast infections, a chest infection, migraines and general lack of ability to cope with the pressure of being a Teacher and the associated side-effects of feeling dreadfully run down all the time. Many women told me about the 'pregnancy glow' which lasted all of about 4 weeks until I was back to feeling awful again whilst struggling and buckling under the huge workload!

The school helped by giving me cover lessons here and there, but it was never enough to catch up on marking and I felt unable to be productive in the evenings, because I was so tired after a day at work. Anyway, I just feel ridiculously guilty about the time off I've had, I've always had a doctors note but I know that my absences have a had a huge impact on my department who have had to do extra work on my behalf, such as setting cover lessons. I did what I could from home, but if I'd have set my own cover, marked work and continued to write reports, there would have been no point in being off sick in the first place and the doctor ordered complete rest during these periods. I know that it has frayed good relationships I once had with people in my department.

Has anyone else has to juggle a high-pressure job whilst being pregnant and experienced anything similar? How did you deal with it? How did other colleagues react to you taking time off sick? I feel very much on my own with this at the moment so any responses would be helpful.

I'm a lawyer and work long hours so I've been finding it quite tough. I'm okish until about 5.30 then I feel horrible and I've still got at least another hour or two then an hour commute home on the train. I have an office I can shut myself in and cry/ have tea/ wibble though I think teaching when you feel rough must be really difficult.

My boss keeps telling me I shouldn't be doing long hours at the moment but without actually taking any work off me so it's not like I have a choice. I'm taking a full year maternity though so just focusing on that!

I'm not a teacher but my brother is and I know how hard you work.

I'm a hospital doctor and feel I would have sailed through pregnancy if not for work! I do shifts and deal with emergencies and work long hours and it's always manic and you can't always take breaks. I've just had a week off sick after covering 4 wards on my own, 12 hour days without a break on your feet, it's just not doable pregnant, or it probably is but not for me. I crashed and I feel so shit about it.

Last pregnancy I only managed to work till 32 weeks I was so shattered, fainting on the wards. I'm hoping to work later this time, I am part time now.

There is precious little understanding, though I am grateful to be working for the public sector so you are quite protected in terms of salary/mat leave etc, which many of my friends in the private sector did not have. It's a very macho and male environment.

No real suggestions - I feel the guilt so so much, I've only had a few days off but I know it will have been hell for the other doctors to be one doctor down - but lots of sympathy. I tell myself lots of my colleagues will have kids at some point and I can be a better support to them then when I am more senior, having done it myself.

I will say I found the newborn stage and the sleep deprivation not too bad in comparison!

I completely empathise with you weebairn and splendide, teaching is certainly not the only high pressure profession to suffer during pregnancy. People can recognise that we work under pressure every day so I don't understand why systems aren't put in place to help make things more manageable when we're pregnant and suffering. It's much the same that out job roles require much the same amount of work no matter how we're feeling, making flexible hours etc difficult. In the private sector you can more likely go home earlier or start work later. In teaching, my classes need teaching no matter how I'm feeling, I've always loved my job regardless of the pressure, but over the last 8 months I've felt trapped by the pressure of it and cornered by a mountain of work I'm unable to finish.

Sparkle- I contacted my union and asked this very question after I kept receiving messages asking for cover work when I was off sick after I'd explained that I wasn't up to doing all of it. They said that you cannot be contacted without your permission. I did the wrong thing contacting them first offering to help locate resources. I was then contacted on numerous occasions by an assumptive HOD who thought I was offering to set all my lessons. He'd only been bragging the week before about how much free time he had now that Year 11 had left!

So no, they cant contact you to do anything without your say so, my union sent me the policy in black and white. My advice: offer nothing and dont contact them first! X