5+5 weeks and a month left of probation.... what do I do?

[ERog84]

Hi, so I'm 5+5 today and still have a month of probation left and don't know what to do about telling work....I have to lift and stretch quite a bit some days plus have quite a few appointments coming up that I'll need time off for....once I tell them I'm protected by law and will get time off for antenatal appointments but don't know what to do!!

What's the extent of the lifting and stretching? If it's less than or equivalent to managing a toddler, I wouldn't worry about it (unless you've had medical advice that you're particularly susceptible to problems). Although women can be very careful in their first pregnancy, by the second one life is usually a bit more demanding. How many appointments are you likely to have in the next month? In my authority by 10 weeks you might only have had one in total, which I don't think would be worth telling an employer about.

I'd hold off on telling them till your probation is signed off. If you are asked to lift something heavy you could always complain of a sore back or something. And as a pp says, if this was your second pregnancy you might be lifting a toddler every day.

Best not to say anything until you are over the 12 week mark/until you start to show unless your job puts your's or your baby's wellbeing at risk.

You don't normally get any appointments until 8-10 weeks, so I wouldn't worry about that. I'd keep quiet until the end of probation.

I wouldn't worry too much about lifting and stretching, unless it's something ridiculously heavy, as others have said second time around you have a big lump of a toddler to carry about! Lifting in pregnancy is more a risk to mum hurting herself due to the relaxin your body produces to soften ligaments for labour but I imagine at only 5 weeks you will.be fine on that front.

Also you might not even have any appointments by the time your four weeks is up as some areas do scan and booking in together between 11-13 weeks.

Thanks everyone. I already have a scan appointment/blood test appointment and booking in appointment for the next 5 weeks then 12 weeks scan a couple of weeks after probation ends.

I didn't tell work til after 22 weeks. You can easily find a risk assessment on the web. So run through it yourself. Are there are any risks? No then you can stay quiet. Book your 2 appointments as holiday.

There's a flip side to this. While I can understand wanting to hold off until a probdbtuon period is over, General you are better off telling your work sooner rather than later. You have protections as a pregnant person (can't be penalised for pregnancy related sick, paid time off for antenatal appointments etc) but these only apply from the date your work is informed. I'm currently going through a redundancy consultation and wanted to keep quiet but my union advised me to inform work ASAP for the above reasons. Just another angle to consider

Although I was past my probation stage at work so didn't have that concern, I found I had to tell them pretty early on as there was a lot of very heavy lifting to do and being on your feet for very long hours and once you inform them they have to let you take it a bit easier. I was also suffering very badly with morning sickness and did take a few days off work when it was very bad and didn't get penalised for this whereas if I hadn't informed them of my pregnancy I would definitely have lost my job for the absences. However, another colleague there was a month away from finishing her probation informed them of her pregnancy and they terminated her employment at the end of her probation (of course they didn't blame the pregnancy but it was likely the reason) so I would say if you're not suffering with sickness too badly and not having to do more lifting than you are comfortable with then try to hold off letting them know.

I do far more heavy lifting and stretching at home with two small children than I ever did at work as a nurse doing 13hr shifts. Ugh. Not one single fuck is given by them, your first pregnancy is the only one you get to mind yourself. Today I was running up the beach to stop a 1.5 yo escaping with a 3 yo on my back. 21 weeks 👍