Pregnancy and Fit Note

[ElleH13]

Just after some advice and maybe some reassurance that I'm not being dramatic!

I'm 28 weeks with my first today, and so far have not had the easiest time. I went in at 20 weeks with really high blood pressure and they put me on medication so it didn't become pre-eclampsia. While there, they told me my PlGF factor was low and they were worried about baby's growth. I now have to have a scan every two weeks and I go to hospital twice a week for monitoring.

At 26 weeks they told me I had gestational diabetes so now I have more monitoring and even more hospital visits.

At my last scan on Wednesday they said baby has had a reduction in growth, but they would need to see at the next scan whether she was still reduced in growth before they became too concerned.

I'm also anemic and my iron levels aren't going up despite being on tablets for it which is making me knackered!

The FMAU signed me off work for two weeks when they told me I had GD as I got really upset and stressed out at all the things going wrong with my pregnancy. Work have been really good about me being off and when I spoke to my manager yesterday she said they would support me if I chose not to come back but I obviously need another fit note.

I really can't even think about work at the minute with everything going on. I have quite a stressful job (I work for the emergency services) so I'm worried about it raising my blood pressure. I also keep ending up in FMAU for hours at a time while they're monitoring me, then I have to rush to get to work after my appointments. They give me time off for my scans but I just feel like between all my appointments and working, I don't have any time to just sit and calm down. I'm exhausted.

Guess I'm just looking for reassurance that its a good enough excuse to be off work and the GP will give me a fit note. I dont know why but I get real anxiety that they'll just tell me I'm being dramatic and to get on with it!

Yes this is a perfectly good reason for a fit note. I had a difficult pregnancy too and was signed off work. I am also medical and would have no problem signing someone off if they felt their pregnancy complications made work impossible. I would likely ask whether they felt they could manage part time hours or amended duties instead of full sign off, but wouldn’t push if they didn’t think they could. Keep in mind if you are off permanently from now your maternity leave will be triggered early. Hope you feel better and can enjoy the rest of your pregnancy! Xx

What’s the alternative- you go to work and are unable to concentrate with worry and exhaustion, make mistakes and end up feeling worse about everything?

If your manager is giving you this option, take it!

You will have absolutely no issue in getting signed off at all. I'm only 13 weeks atm and am currently signed off thanks to a collection of pregnancy related issues. I just filled out am econsult form and put in pregnancy related illness and a few details of what was going on. As I'd seen my gp about it a couple of times previously. No questions from them, just got sent a sick note through. Your gp will be aware of what's going on and the added stress of all of it is more than enough reason to stay off and take some more time! Do what's right for you and bub OP.

If you're not feeling well enough to be at work, then that is a good enough reason to accept the medical opinion and hand in your Fit Note.

Look carefully at your maternity policy and the statutory SMP policy. They will both indicate a qualifying period during which your pay is measured and used to calculate maternity pay. Based on my employer, I'd be sceptical that they are being ever so supportive of time off because it will reduce their maternity pay liability .... but you can check and then make your decisions accordingly.

I don't mean this to say you should work if you're too sick not too. But if it's a borderline decision of whether to go to work or not, knowledge of whether your maternity pay will be impacted might be part of your decision making process ...

Definitely, sounds like it’s been stressful! Just be aware in the coming weeks there’s usually a certain point (I think 35 weeks?) where you can’t be signed off anymore and it just triggers the start of your maternity leave instead