Business trip at 28 weeks.... yes or no??

[GermanGal]

Hi all, I am 28 weeks now and my boss asked me to travel to London next week (I live in Germany).... I had to organise a hell of a lot of meetings for the whole day, so it will be a 5am wake up call and I will get home - if flights are not delayed for a change - around 10pm. Friends/colleagues keep telling me not to do it.... but I think I'd feel guilty if I didn't (don't ask me why).... what is the general opinion on flying/long (stressful) working days? I'm really not looking forward to that trip....

I did several at about that stage - from London to Amsterdam and London/Frankfurt. Was fine, if TIRED.

I personally wouldnt do it because that is a very long day and at 28 weeks, would have knocked me out for a good few days after.
Plus I certainly wouldnt feel guilty about putting yourself and bub over work. I realised quite early on that whilst work was very important - mine and babies health came first and exhausting myself unnecessarily was not something i was prepared to do. You dont sound as though it is something you want to do, so why would you?
FWIW - i also think your boss is a little out of order expecting you to do this.

@dal.... I agree, trips like that even knocked me out a few weeks ago, so now it's going to be even worse I think I also agree that my boss is out of order, but it's all about politics.... with me in the middle of it.
@anchovy....looks like we have the same routes (London/Frankfurt/Amsterdam)

I will see me GP on Friday and see what he says.... just have a really bad feeling about it (might have to do with the fact that my husband had to do an emergency landing only a few weeks ago on the same route, arrgghh)

germangal- ahh politics. gotta love them! i feel for you. my personal view is sod the politics and let the fall out be what it will be - what can they do? But i know that is easier said than done. You and your baby are the most important thing right now, not company politics.
Hope that you follow your gut instinct - and it sounds as though it is saying i don't want to go!

Very very true.... but then the feeling of guilt kicks in and I'm wondering if I'm just being lazy. Bloody hormones

For what it's worth, I wouldn't go. Not particularly because I think it's unsafe but just because I know I'd be too knackered to cope.

I'm 30 weeks and I found flying to go on holiday at around 25 weeks and also a work trip to Lille on the Eurostar incredibly tiring. Even without the early start and all the work you'd have to do, just the whole experience of queuing up at the airport etc is really exhausing.

I'd give it a miss but I can see that might be difficult if it's all v political...

Lazy??? are you insane??? . you are pregnant - and pregnancy takes it out of you - you are allowed to be a little kinder to yourself right now!
I personally dont think any job is worth putting yourself through that - and believe me, career is very important to me, so am not saying it lightly.
It will be a good test for your employers, if they value you - they will respect your decision and be supportive of it. If they dont, well are they worth putting yourself through that for?
Am very black and white today!

Don't do it. Tiredness and stress is not a good thing at this point, and it's not worth it, really not worth it, some things are more important I think.

Feeling much better already....I think (no, I know!!) you are right.... it's so not worth it... on top of everything, my maternity leave starts 2 weeks after the trip, so I don't even see the point in going; I honestly think it's just my boss trying to make things a bit more difficult for me!!
Ohhh feeling very sorry for myself today, must be the weather

your boss deserves a slap.

forget the boss and forget the petty games. you are far more worthy and important!

It is a difficult one. I think it depends a bit on what your job is, what the meetings are for and what your role at the meetings will be. I think it also slightly depends on how you want to be treated when you/if you go back.

My trips were for fairly "valid" reasons (a lot of my trips frankly can be a bit of a waste of time/ could be done over the phone etc) but these did not fall into that category. (Any that could be done over the phone etc I did that way)

Speaking entirely personally, I did not want to set things up at work whereby my pregnancy/having a child was something which stopped me doing things 12 weeks odd before the baby was due. Sure I knew it would make me tired, but being tired in itself as a result of a one off event is not, I didn't think, a risk to the baby. I personally did not think the travelling I was being asked to do was phenomonally stressful - it was just tiring and inconvenient and I would rather not have had to do it, but that pretty much applies to all business travel I do, pregnant or not.

I was pretty healthy all the way through the pregnancy and didn't have any "alarms", so that probably conditioned my thinking. I wasn't, however, particularly young (37 for DS, 39 for DD). I carried on working until I was 38 weeks (although I did have 7 months off afterwards each time).

It's great to hear both opinions.... I agree that it will have to do with going back/not going back to work.... the thing is just that my firm is in a huge merger situation at the moment, so I won't be going back to the same place or job (that's pretty much a given).... and most likely not even to the same boss. That of course shouldn't be the reason not to go. I think I'm also reluctant because I got sick (cold/sore throat, etc) every time recently after being on planes or trains.... and I'm just fed up with it. Not much understanding here at work for that though

Hi GermanGal,

I just returned from such a trip and you have to decide for yourself. Howveer, if you need an excuse, the airlines wont't take you beyond 28 weeks unless you have a letter from a GP saying all is okay. You could use that as an excuse if you want to.

GG - Maybe I am just very short sighted but I dont believe that any allowances that are made (and should be made IMO) when you are pregnant have any bearing on what job you will do if/ when you return.

If you are a valued employee and your work to date has delivered value - surely that is what is taken into account when you return and not this one episode a few weeks before your mat leave is about to start??

But then I work in the company i work for and the culture at your place could be different i guess.

Hi Glimmer, I have checked with Lufthansa and they only require the letter from week 36 (!) onwards.... crazy, isn't it (I hope Lufthansa stewardesses are trained for emergency births on board!)

Dal... I fully agree with you, but the culture here is very aggressive - there are only 2 other women working with me who had babies before, and both had to leave around month 6 because of stress.... I am not actually "sick" though (and I intend not to get sick!!), therefore people just ignore the fact that I am pregnant. My boss actually asked me not to take my holidays before maternity leave (I saved a few weeks) but rather have them paid out.... thank God HR didn't agree!!

Sorry guys, I think I really just need a good rant....

Goodness - rant away! Never heard of anything ridiculous as a pregnancy being ignored! Sounds as though they expect you to be robots!
You seem to be coping with it much better than the other 2 ladies though - so well done to you! Hope the situation works itself out!

Oops. Sorry. My info is from flying British Airways and I have been also told this is the case for American carriers (haven't checked though). Habe allerding nicht die deutsche Arbeitsmentalitaet miteingerechnet .

There is a chance that the pilots will be on strike next week - now THAT would be best case scenario

And yes, Glimmer, I've had the same info from BA as well - I cannot believe the Germans are so flexible about this, normally they take all kinds of precautions?? Must be the Arbeitsmentalität

A definate "no" from me!!

I travelled a lot during this pregnancy - (am currently 37 weeks) for work and for pleasure. I did go to Chicago on business plus I went to Doha and then Male at 28 weeks (for pleasure though).

I would probably go - I wouldn't want to be seen not to be able to manage just because I was preganant and give them a reason to think I wasn't being my usual efficient self.

Make life easier for yourself by taking taxi's rather than trains etc if appropriate and have a short snooze on the plane. If you can take it easy the day after you return.

I think it's entirely up to you - I went on a business trip yesterday (within the UK mind you) that meant leaving home at 6.10am, and 3 hours of train/tube travel - in/through London and out the other side to the West Country. I'm 32 + 5 weeks and didn't mind doing it - but my situations slightly different as I'm relatively new to my dept (although have been in the firm two years) and the reason for the trip was good experience for me, so I got something out of it. I also didn't have to worry about luggage, and I've been absolutely fine throughout this pg and still feel fine. Might have felt differently if I'd had to fly and cart a lot of stuff with me. Was knackered yesterday evening when I got home (at 8.30) though but feeling ok today.

I've got two more UK trips scheduled, when I'll be 34 and 35 weeks, but am only going to go on them if I feel up to it. I think the main thing is that you shouldn't feel obliged to go - if you're happy to, then well and good, but you have perfectly legitimate reasons not to.