Working while pregnant

[Peachtree3]

Hi everyone.
I'm new to the site and only just TTC for the first time but I have a question about working while pregnant.
My main concern is with my job. I work for my family's cleaning business and it's an active job, manual labour sort of thing. I do have to lift and carry equipment, etc. but no more than about 7kg at a time.
My family don't know that DH and me are TTC and I don't want to mention it yet in case it takes a while or doesn't happen. It's a small business so I'm not sure what will happen with mat leave yet but my question is do you think it would be ok for me to continue in my job while pregnant? And when should I stop working?
Help! Don't know what to do or expect!

I think the general rule is you can continue with what your body is used to within reason.

It might be harmful though, if you're using lots of chemicals - isn't that something to avoid if possible throughout pregnancy - in case you accidentally inhale some whilst using some?

(I'm not judging by the way! Just regurgitating something I read.) x

If it's household cleaning then it's fine, if it's commercial cleaning with chemicals then your employer must change your role to prevent you coming in to contact with harmful chemicals.

Thank you ladies. It's not household cleaning, its contract cleaning. The only chemicals we use every day are bleach, disinfectant and brasso. My duties are mainly hoovering, brushing, mopping, or window cleaning occasionally.
I've always been quite fit and always moving, so wasn't sure if that'd make it any easier or not.

Being active in pregnancy definitely makes it easier!

Well my DS is 13kg and still not walking so I have to lug him around all day. I'm 29 weeks now.

Back in the dark ages, when I was pregnant, my Dr told me that I could continue doing what I had always done, ie keep fit, riding a bike, whatever, but it probably wasn't a good idea to take up anything new.

My daughter has a similar job to you, and she worked through her pregnancy up to about 5 weeks before her due date. She did get very tired towards the end though.

Good luck with everything. x

Generally its ok to carry on with what you are use to exercise wise. But be aware morning sickness or pelvic pain may make things harder or impossible. As its a.family business maybe you could plant a seed and mention you are thinking about ttc and how would they cover you. Morning sickness can hit at 4 or 5,week and be debilitating foe the whole pregnancy in the worse cases.

You should have a pregnancy risk assessment done once you tell your employer (family) that you are pregnant. This will cover how much you can lift, the hours you work and the chemicals you come into contact with.
There should be COSHH reports on all chemicals used which will let you know about the impact of chemicals during pregnancy.

Look at the Health & Safety Executive (HSE) web site. They have information on the risk assessment.

I was a cleaner - hoovering, toilets, kitchens etc, just a couple of hours a day but at about 6 weeks had to stop because I was too nauseous and exhausted, just physically couldn't do the hoovering. There is also the question mark over whether cleaning products could cause a problem if you're using them all day, or depending on the weight of your hoover, lifting it (mine was V heavy industrial one) plus maybe good not to be routinely exposed to bugs in toilets etc - but all this might be over the top, but might be stuff you would rather be cautious about and avoid, I'd maybe speak to various people about it to get some different opinions, GP, midwife, maybe NCT helpline, stress this is ft not just domestic. Main thing for me was I physically couldn't do it anymore and my husband had to do all cleaning of our home because I was just exhausted and the nausea meant I became sofa bound for first 20 weeks. I am normally very active and well but pregnancy is a game changer for me. Everyone is different though, have heard of women cleaning ft through pregnancies - you might have to wait and see.

Thank you so much ladies, you've all thought of stuff I didn't even consider, haha. We do have coshh forms, so I'll look them out again, and I don't do the toilets so thankfully wouldn't need to deal with that. Was planning to ask my doc too if and when the time comes. I'm normally quite good at dealing with illness or nausea so I hope that'll be the case this time too.