Do you tell your manager when you are pregnant

[Gh67]

Hi ladies, I’m just over 6 weeks pregnant now and I start getting nausea few times a day, I need to work in the office 2 days a week, but we’ve not told anyone about my pregnancy ( not even our parents, want to wait till the first scan at week 12). I’m getting nervous what if I really can’t make it to the office in the next 6 weeks and do I have to tell my manager I’m pregnant? Just wondering how you cover it up at work place? Or I just need to make “all sorts excuses” till week 12? Thanks xx 🤗

well you could make up all sorts of excuses and take any issues they may have with that, in my work you could easily be placed on a absence stage once you have taken too much time off
or you could tell them, and be have all the pregnancy protections

Yes, it's a good idea to tell them so they can look into making adjustments if necessary and it will help if you need to take time of sick.

I'd tell them incase you need time off. Only your boss would need to know. And they aren't allowed to go round telling people your business.

You need to tell them. That way they can make sure baby is safe while you are at work, and they can also make reasonable adjustments to accommodate your changing needs.They have a duty if care to do these things, and to ensure you are not discriminated against because of your condition.

Thanks for all the advice! I think I know what I need to do now! xxx

@Gh67 I told my manager at 5 weeks - way before telling anyone else. It was definitely the right decision for me. She was very understanding and let me work more flexibly. I also wanted her to know just in case the worst happened and I needed some time off. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case! Best of luck with your pregnancy 💕

I told my manager at 8-9 weeks as there were a couple of times I felt really poorly in the office and once I even went home. It made me feel better that she knew I wasn’t just slacking. It’s very much an individual choice and I appreciate depends on your relationship with your manager but it was helpful for me.

Not been pregnant myself, but have managed many pregnant women - yes, tell your manager as soon as you can, so a risk assessment can be done. Even if you feel your environment is low-risk, your manager needs to be aware so you can, for example, be quickly told to avoid the office if someone else has an infectious illness that could harm your unborn child.

Your manager can also go through details of mat leave and so on, so you have plenty of time to plan and sort out your financials. Your manager is obliged to keep the information confidential until you want to announce your pregnancy.

Only if you’re within the period to legally get maternity leave. I done it earlier and it was terrible. You can hide it for long enough, my mistake was me thinking our pretence relationship would be fine but I was just another monkey xx

I’d tell them, if anything bad happens you’ll need to tell them anyway for time off.
And you’ve got more rights when pregnant too!

I think it depends on your manager and workplace - you know best. But if they are generally supportive I would tell them now. I told mine quite early on because I was really struggling with nausea and it took a lot of the stress off. It was a relief not having to hide things on top of trying to work while feeling crummy.

I personally told my manager only a few days after I found out as the nausea was setting in pretty early. I have a good relationship with her though and it was nice having someone in the office I could talk to if I needed to, I even went and hid in her office for a few minutes each time I was sick so the rest of the team wouldn't catch on when I came out with bright red eyes 😂Tbh for me I preferred her knowing as if something did happen I knew I could speak to her. Also when I had to have a week off work as my sickness was really bad was nice not to have to lie.