Pregnant and work stress - how do you cope in a stressful environment?

[Bleewee]

Hi everyone! I am 20wks pregnant and feeling very good now that I’m finally in my 2nd trimester. However, work is reaching very high stressful levels where I am finding myself working through the evenings and at times even disrupts my sleep.

the main issue I am facing is an avoidant manager who shirks off responsibility and leaves it all up to me to make decisions. Our weekly 1 to 1s are often rushed and cut short. When I schedule meetings which I think her input would be helpful, she asks if she really needs to attend. At the end of the day, I feel alone in meeting high demands.

any coping tips? I don’t want to get signed off work as I feel that would be escaping the problem even though I’ve thought about it countless times. However if you’ve done this and it’s helped you, please share your experience. Thanks!

I had this; I ended up taking a couple of days off work because I was so stressed and tired on the advice of my midwife after bursting into tears in the appointment. The couple of days gave me a bit of headspace to work out what needed to change at work so I went back and had a meeting with my manager and made it clear what I needed and if things didn’t change my midwife had recommended I take a longer period of time off.
It did help although I had to have clear boundaries and my next step would have been talking to HR

Thank you so much. This is very helpful. I might have to resort to this if I keep getting stressed to this level.

Hi

set up a meeting with your boss to specifically discuss your pregnancy, create an agenda including this

you need a risk assessment, tell your manager in writing. This isn’t just to see that you’re not carrying heavy boxes, it includes any kind of workplace risk such as stress. The risk assessment is your opportunity to raise your concerns

is there an OH team at work? Get your manager to make an appointment.

finally mention your GP, that you’re in contact with them about all aspects of your pregnancy including work. That should get your boss thinking about the possibility of your doctor putting you on light duties, or being signed off work. Not that you’re going to do this, but bring it to their attention so they can act now to keep you at work which is what they’ll want.

if all this fails to bring about change, then consider what you need and speak to the doctor