Being a Pregnant Police Officer

[Copmom]

Hey,

So recently I found out I am pregnant. Super scary and unexpected yet I am still super excited. I am not married yet, so no one will expect it. However my dilemma is I am a police officer. My department is not a very supportive or quite frankly a good place to work so I am weary about talking to them. I am currently 6 weeks and want to know if there are any other officers on here who has any recommendations on when I should tell my department. Also, if anyone has dealt with discrimination, or been treated differently after advising their department they were pregnant how did you deal with that. Please advise.

Tell them ASAP so they can do a risk assessment. I can’t quite believe you’ve not told them already!

Have you been in touch with the Fed? They might have guidance on all this.

I do have to chuckle at you saying no one will expect cos you’re not married - it’s 2019!

It very much depends on what department you work in. If your in an office based role that would be a huge difference to frontline with regards to telling them so if your front line I’d say ASAP, otherwise you may have a couple more weeks depending on your job profile. So depending on the risks involved I’d gauge it on that. Your line manager has a duty not to disclose your reasons for any duty restrictions. In terms of discrimination I wouldn’t be taking any form of discrimination and you shouldn’t either. I would be straight to the Fed if that turns out to be the case.

I'd advise telling your line manager who has a duty of care towards you and must do a NEM risk assessment. They are bound by confidentiality so until you're ready to announce no one need know the reasons for being placed on restricted duties if that happens. If you experience any kind of discrimination it's straight to the Federation and raise a grievance. That's my advice as a senior HR manager and wife of a police officer. I can understand your anxieties if where you work is anywhere like some of the units my husband has worked in, I've heard some pretty awful things so you have my sympathies there. Just remember that the health of you and your baby are the most important things in this. Wishing you a happy and healthy pregnancy!

Are you in a confrontational role? Straight away if so, whenever you feel like it if not I'd say.

I work in patrol, on the night shift. Some nights it’s quite but there are plenty of times I am faced with pretty dangerous situations. I am only reluctant because of the judgment and maybe not overt discrimination but hidden discrimination I may Face. But I definitely understand that it’s my responsibility to care for myself and my child not worry about them.

My experience has been quite good with my employer. I'm not police but I'm something similar. I had a risk assessment done straight away. I have been put on restricted duties which I'm not enjoying as much as my main role but I accept the reasons why. You could argue it is positive discrimination but tbh I'm just sitting out my time until mat leave kicks in. In relation to my pregnancy my manager has been nothing but fantastic and I have always been put first.

Congratulations on your pregnancy and I hope your work react well and appropriately when you choose to tell them.

When I was pregnant (miscarried) I told my sergeant immediately I didn't care if I was judged, moved anything I had to protect me and that baby. I was on response and instantly taken off frontline duties. The shifts won't necessarily be a problem but you cannot put yourself in confrontational situations. What if you got kicked or punched in the stomach? Any discrimination can be dealt with by the Federation. Tell your sergeant and remove yourself from frontline duties.

Hi,
Just for a different perspective to most people on here. I’ve recently been through this / going through this. Currently 26 weeks.
I found out I was pregnant at around 5 weeks (planned pregnancy) had some initial problems around bleeding and stuff so was reluctant to tell work until I’d had a scan as I knew it would be gossip central and didn’t want to face having to front out a miscarriage.

I worked on response so yes a frontline role that’s confrontational sometimes.
People I’m sure will judge me but I wasn’t ready to tell work and I made that decision with my partner and he supported me to tell work when I felt I needed to.
I remained operational until approx 10 weeks when I had an early scan and had the pregnancy confirmed. I told my sgt who was actually supportive and I expressed I wanted to continue working so they did a risk assessment and they double crewed me and I didn’t go to G1’s but went to everything else.
I had my 12 week scan at almost 14 weeks (just the timing of the appointment) and with positive news went restricted duties.
Job have actually been supportive mostly. It’s hard to accept you have to change your role so much and that has made me feel crap at times because I miss my normal job but my team have been great.

I was actually offered a new role before I knew I was pregnant and I was certain they would take it away from me somehow as I was hardly the ideal candidate for it now I was pregnant before I even started it. They didn’t and it was actually very positive. I’m glad that after my scan I had an upfront and honest conversation with the boss. Turns out I had been worrying about that for nothing.

Me and my baby are absolutely fine. We are both healthy and this has been a normal routine pregnancy. My midwife was very supportive when I spoke to her about work and not knowing what to do. She reassured me that my baby was well protected in there (by me and my normal Ppe) and whatever I chose to do would probably be okay. Maybe you could discuss it with a midwife.

Moral of the story is please just do whatever is best for you and your partner. This is your baby and your pregnancy and you make important decisions on a daily basis. You know something could happen to be you at work, we all live with that everyday. Everyone lives with risk, you know yourself and how you would feel if the worst did happen. Trust yourself and do whatever you think is best.

Work probably won’t judge you half as much as you think and they’ll probably support you so try not to let fear get in the way of telling them if that’s all it is. I’ve genuinely had a positive experience and been listened to by them once I decided to tell them.

Previously worked for the police in a role that often meant sharing an office with people on restricted duties.

I found in general people were remarkably polite about women being placed on desk duties for various given reasons, despite it being clear they were likely to be early pregnancy. Certainly in my office we would politely accept a cover story until the officer announced it, usually as others in the room had experience of being moved from active duty etc and not having told their families but it being clear to those who worked with them