Work Stress - 23 Weeks

[CoffeeMonkey]

Hi Lovely Ladies,

Not a specific question really but just a general has anyone had experience of work stress mid pregnancy, & did you take off any time sick due to this?

I’m lucky to be in office based role so can work from home but my workload has significantly increased over the last year as it is and I have actually lost some of the resource typically working with me. I discussed this at my standard pregnancy risk assessment and made clear I was at peak workload & just about managing to cope without falling behind and missing deadlines/ at risk of customer complaints/ errors.

Less than two weeks later I got handed additional work (from a colleague off work with stress!) which was a mess & is now taking up a lot of my time, causing me to fall further behind with my own work.

I have spoken to my line manager about this several times now but despite promises to get me help or remove the additional workload nothing has changed & this has now been sitting with me for 2 months.

My husband & friends are really worried about me & say they can see the stress I am under and think I should take some time off sick with stress, has anyone done this & have any pros or cons, or even just experiences to share?

I’m the type of person who generally hates to take time off & haven’t had a sick day in over three years but just trying to think of Baby now as well as myself, bit worried if other people can see the stress in me & are concerned.

Thanks for any advice

The problem is that, if you take sick leave after the 24 week mark, they might decide that's the start of your maternity leave. Might be better to speak to your midwife or your GP about getting a conditional fit note (eg reduced work load, regular reviews with line manager, flexible hours).

Thanks for reply @Willowkins, can they do that though, automatically decide when to start your maternity leave without your consent? Especially if the reason for sick leave isn’t maternity related, it’s work stress related?

It's after week 36 that your mat leave starts automatically if off with pregnancy-related sickness

Sorry, week 36 or after

Thanks @Heyha just checked & found that myself after a quick google but appreciate you confirming!

Sorry, I never actually replied to your Q.

You need to look after yourself and baby so if having some time off would help, absolutely do it. Only you will know if you'll go back to the same shit or if this is what is needed to get some action to help your excess workload.

You could also ask for a discussion about your pregnancy risk assessment, whether you have some time off or not (but if you go off a return to work interview would help too)

Sorry I got distracted and pushed the button too soon so ignore that. Hope you get the time you need Coffee

I was signed off sick from work from 26 weeks with work - related stress during my first pregnancy. My line manager was keen to save face so tried to convince me to declare it as pregnancy-related (which would mean starting maternity leave early as others have pointed out). The question that helped me decide was "if I wasn't pregnant, would I be signed off from work?" In my case I was at breaking point from a mental health perspective because of things happening in the workplace, nothing to do with being pregnant. Hope that helps 😊 and sorry that work isn't being supportive towards you.

Thank you all for your help & advice ladies, also great to know I’m not the only one in this position, even though I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Have chatted again with my husband & friend & think I need to do the right thing for me & Baby & take a time out. Hoping I wont have any push back from management but given we have two other team members in a similar role off on long term sick with stress (our wider team is not in great shape generally!) I don’t think they can try to pin this as pregnancy related.