PGP and 12 hour nightshifts :(

[becomingfall]

Hi everyone. I’m currently 21 weeks pregnant with my first, I started getting PGP around 13 weeks. On a day to day basis it’s mostly manageable, because I can stop what I’m doing and stretch/rest/whatever I need.

Work is a different story- I’m a midwife and I work permanent nights on delivery suite. If I’m in a room with a labouring woman all night I’m in pain all night and by the morning I can barely walk to my car or drive home. I then don’t sleep well because of the pain and struggle to weight bare on my legs when I get out of bed. As most maternity units are we’re short staffed and hugely busy so there’s rarely anyone around to ask to help me out for a few mins when I’m really struggling.

Problem is I am also a huge migraine sufferer, they were so well controlled pre-pregnancy but have had to give up my meds so I’ve had a fair few shifts off sick with this and I’ve currently just rang in for my next 3 shifts with PGP. I have appointments for physio etc.

Theres not really much point to this post other than to try and stop feeling so guilty for being off work again. Considering I work in maternity they know how to make you feel rubbish and like you’re just being a drama queen when you ring in. I’m hoping my combo of physio/osteopath appointments will help to an extent then I’ll go back after my annual leave.

Any words of encouragement please send them my way!!

I hope you’re ok, having to take time off work is so stressful!
Don’t forget you are protected for any pregnancy related illnesses, please take care of yourself, your job will still be there after maternity leave when you won’t have any of these problems.

Don’t feel guilty your baby is more important atm. I did night shifts on a surgical unit and really struggled, I actually went off sick at 20 weeks when a patient kicked me, i thought ‘nope not doing this’ I had had recurrent miscarriages before this pregnancy and not risking it . Good luck

Have you had a risk assessment in your workplace OP to assess what work adaptations could help with your symptoms OP?
You are allowed to ask for reasonable adjustments, and PGP is only going to get worse so important to do this sooner rather than later.
Personally, in your shoes I'd be asking to reduce shift duration to 10 hours with a plan to reassess in 3-4 weeks to see if you need to go down to 8-9hrs.
These adaptations won't affect your pay, so please take decisions that look after you and your pregnancy.

Also a midwife, went off sick at 8 weeks with PGP in my third pregnancy, couldn’t actually walk. Returned to desk duties evaluating risk forms at about 14 weeks (took them that long to sort it out) then developed tachycardia and fainting and they banned me even when I wanted to return. OH were supportive but basically I didn’t work that pregnancy. She’s four now and they’ve had me since she was six months old. I don’t feel that bad about it although I did at the time.

They need to find you a different role til you go on maternity leave. Have you spoken to Occy health ?

Thank you for the lovely replies, I’m genuinely trying to think of mine & my baby’s health as the priority (which of course it is), it’s just so difficult when it’s kind of ingrained in our work culture to see being off as a weakness or that you’re “skiving”.

@Throwncrumbs that sounds awful, I’m glad you were able to go off. I’ve raised concerns multiple times around being constantly exposed to entonox but to no avail.

Yes to others that asked I have had a risk assessment but I was only around 7 weeks at the time and it was general things like “don’t push the beds”. I’ve emailed my line manager and asked to be redeployed to our ward instead of delivery suite. Although still a busy environment I’m guaranteed I’ll get a break as you manage your own time plus I don’t find the work as physically demanding, we have fabulous support workers up there.

My worry is not wanting to be redeployed to a day time role as the pay cut from permanent night enhancements is significant- obviously if it comes to this then it is what it is but I’m hopefully going to the ward will help some. I’ve asked them to refer me to occy health, haven’t heard back yet

What about redeployment to the ward OP?

Otherwise, perhaps look into an osteopath appointment. I wouldn’t spend loads, but an appointment or two may be worth a go.

I'm sorry you're going through this OP. It's horrible. I was full time in theatres, mostly working nights and doing a lot of emergency care. (Why they thought to put the pregnant waddler on the resus bleep is still beyond me!)
I pushed and pushed and kept going thinking it'd be fine. Took a few days off here and there to try and rest in the hopes it got better. Eventually it wasn't getting better and I asked to be put into theatres with one big case so after my initial couple hours of anaesthetic, I'd be fairly home and dry. But by this point it'd gotten so bad I couldn't even manage that.

I ended up off sick for a lot of my 3rd trimester with it, struggling to walk. When I eventually saw the physio they explained how they could often stop it getting worse but it was difficult to help it get better. So all my pushing on just left me in pain.

I felt so horrific for being off and got absolutely bombarded with work being horrible about it.

Then my little girl arrived. Sitting here now while she giggles away at the cat and it's only posts like this that remind me of those days. So please just know that as awful as it feels now, it really will not matter soon enough. It truly won't. Don't let yourself carry on in agony. We all know they'd replace us in a heartbeat!

It’s really crap in the NHS as risk assessments are all good on paper but really difficult in practice as they are always short staffed and rely on people to step up when they really shouldn’t. That’s my experience, they don’t staff for things ‘that might happen’ so staff are left in the lurch ALL the time.

OP you've had lots of good advice - this is a practical bit of info for PGP. You may well have come across this before, but I'm sharing just in case you haven't.

https://pelvicpartnership.org.uk/pgp-is-treatable-ebook/

I cannot recommend this free ebook from the pelvic partnership enough.

"PGP can affect one in five women, often starting during your pregnancy and can continue after your baby is born. The main symptom of PGP is severe pain, especially when walking, climbing stairs and turning in bed.

If left untreated, the pain can become a long-term problem, leading to physical immobility and affecting your mental health and emotional wellbeing. The good news is that PGP can be treated. Most women make a full recovery after receiving the right help in the form of hands-on manual therapy, such as physiotherapy, osteopathy and chiropractic."

Look up #PGPistreatable too. It seems like manual therapy works best for this condition and you might need it often.

This is just anecdotal, but I have had more luck with private osteopaths than I have NHS physios (who, ime at least, seem more interested in prescribing certain exercises).

@moregarlic thanks for that link I’ll have a look!

I found a really good osteopath when I sprained my rotator cuff so I’m going to contact him today and hopefully will be able to get in this weekend.

I’ve never heard anything good about the NHS physio that we refer our pregnant women to which is where I’ve got an apt next week but I thought I best keep the appointment in case work are difficult so at least I can say “I’ve done this this and this”. Ridiculous but I feel like I have to jump through their hoops.

thank you so so much everyone for all the kind words it really does help! :)

Don’t feel guilty at all!! Your health is the most important thing. You can’t work if you don’t look after your health anyway so it’s important to prioritise it. If that means taking a break in the short term so be it. If it’s any reassurance, I had PGP early on in my pregnancy (about 15 weeks). I was really sceptical about the physio I was offered (a group zoom call) especially after reading the advice from the pelvic partnership. BUT for me it actually really worked. Do the exercises they give you and stick at it even if they don’t seem to do much at first (avoid any that are painful to do). I also found a pillow under my pelvis as well as between my knees made a huge difference - I felt my pelvis ‘crack’ one night and it was such a relief. I know the physio doesn’t work for everyone and if it doesn’t I’d shout for further treatment but you might be lucky. I’m at 38 weeks now and get a bit stiff & sore now and again but if I do

the stretches it’s fine. Good luck with the physio and your pregnancy!