Partners of at risk groups

[hellosun20]

My DP is an SEN teacher so will have to teach next week, based on the news today. I am 7 weeks pregnant and now obviously 'at risk'. So what happens to him then? I self isolate for 12 weeks and he goes to teach SEND kids ( whilst all other teachers are off/working from home) and potentially brings CV back into the house? This makes no sense to me!

Please don't confuse self isolation with social distancing.
You should be socially distancing for 12 weeks.
You only need to self isolate (for 14 days) if you develop covid symptoms. In which case your OH and anyone else in your household will also have to quarantine for 14 days.

@Bookworm83 that's what I meant, thank you!

Hi I'm in a similar position, my husband's school is remaining open, I'm 11 weeks pregnant, they're refusing to let him work from home, even though he could easily do this. Posting this here as I can't find any official guidance and I'm hoping someone will find something!

@raspberrypickle it's so hard isn't it. Him going to work with vulnerable children sort of negates me being off for so long! It's totally baffling but there doesn't seem to be any guidance anywhere and the unions are being useless!

Yes, same here- his union rep was insistent that the advice was for women in third trimester 😠 we're trying to minimise risks at home, he's getting changed out of work clothes when he gets home and he'll probably sleep in the spare room, I was already feeling so anxious and this has made me feel worse 😥

I am 37 weeks, so I know I'm in a slightly different position, but due to pregnancy high risk, my own neurological condition and the chance the baby could be born with more defects than the club foot we already know about... I felt uneasy about my partner being at work in a school and potentially bringing anything home.

We sought advice from PHE and they said yes to working from home as per advice, but then when we phoned school they said impossible... the only options we can give you are come in, don't come in but don't get paid, or get a sick note from the doctor for anxiety and stress.

We went for the last option, because all things considered, on top of general pregnancy anxiety, we felt it was the best option and the prospect of working really was/ is causing massive stress for us both. There is also no way we could afford to forgo pay when I've just started Mat leave, so my teaching wage has decreased already.

Once baby is here and (touch wood) everything is ok, he will be back at school doing what he's trained to do.

My husband works for the civil service in a key role processing claims. He is unable to work from home and the official advice from his work in relation to me was to wash his hands and sleep in a different bed.

I'm married to a healthcare professional who is currently not seeing known coronavirus patients in person but is seeing other patients, and I'm 27 weeks pregnant. If he gets pulled into frontline coronavirus duty, he will keep going for the sake of everyone else and we will practice social distancing in the house. We will sleep in separate bedrooms, keep our distance, keep our clothes and laundry separate, do our own washing up, lots of handwashing etc. I think it's do-able.

I am in a kind of similar position. I am 27 weeks and my boyfriend works in a nursery. We don’t acfually live together, I live on my own but due to the new guidelines I am having to social distance myself from everyone (basically self isolate) myself inside for 12 weeks, up to my due date almost. His nursery is remaining open so he has decided to take unpaid leave for a few months and see where we are at then. It’s not ideal as we are both going to be struggling for money and using up all of our savings but otherwise I don’t see the point in me self isolating if he is just going to be working and possibly bringing something to me when we see each other! So we will be self isolating together now for the next few months.

I saw a midwife today who didn't seem concerned about the issue of partners bringing the virus home 'there are no guidelines yet so just carry on as normal' 😟 and then in Boris' 5.30pm update he referred to women in the third trimester as being vulnerable, not pregnant women in general.. 🤷🏼‍♀️

@raspberrypickle I noticed that too in his speech. I wondered if that was that a slip up?

@Cazzy198 yes I think it was, I thinking he was bumbling because he'd just been asked whether he would be visiting his Mum for Mother's Day.. it just worries me because there already seems to be so much confusion!!

I'm wondering about this too. Not pregnant yet as far as I'm aware but we have been ttc. My husband is in the police so practising social distancing is impossible in his role. I am isolating as much as I can by staying home/working from home but I do worry that he's still coming into close contact with a lot of people and could easily bring something home. I know the risks aren't as great as frontline nhs workers but it is still a worry. His rota have already responded to jobs where there's been a warning issued that it's suspected the person they are going to is displaying symptoms - one was already in isolation at hospital! Luckily he wasn't directly involved in these jobs but this is a very real possibility as things continue to get worse.

I am asking him to shower as soon as he gets home (which he wasn't too impressed with at 2am 😂) and repeatedly saying wash your hands at work (luckily they also have lots of hand sanitiser at the minute). If need be I might consider sleeping in the spare room if we have conceived this month. If not, we might put things on hold until everything calms back down again as although I can protect myself by isolating, I can't do anything more to protect him 😔