working while pregnant

[Jessica0095]

Hi, i am very early in my pregnancy, 5 weeks. i work in care with sometimes challenging behaviours, I haven't told my employer yet as i think its to early but also i am worried as the first trimester you have to be very cautious. should i tell my employer or should i wait till i am a little bit further along ? i am just very worried about telling people to early. thank you for any help/advice xx

If you work with challenging behaviours where holding is required or you are at risk of being hit etc then you need to tell your employer.

If you are worried for your well-being in work, I would tell immediately so they can do a risk assessment. It’s a good idea to tell your manager and maybe tell them it is very early days and you don’t want anyone who doesn’t need to know to be informed. If they change your duties etc they will probably need to inform senior management.

You say that you are worried about telling people "too early",
The decision to share this information is yours alone, so the time you choose to share it is the right time.
If sharing the information helps keep you and your pregnancy safer then of course its reasonable to tell work sooner than you might tell others.

As other people have said, your work will need to do a risk assessment to keep you safe in that environment so I would definitely speak to them 😊

As soon as you tell your employer you are pregnant you are protected from any maternity discrimination (eg if you are off sick because of pregnancy symptoms they can’t use it against you when looking at work absences) and they have to do a risk assessment so best to tell them.

You can tell them as soon as you feel comfortable to, there is no right time and no time is too early. Once they are informed you have some extra employment protection rights and they are required to look after your well-being.

Tell them whenever you feel comfortable. What is it you feel you have to be cautious about in the first trimester? Usually the first trimester is the safest as baby is very small and well protected deep in there.