Hi everyone, i'm completely new here, I'm currently 11 weeks pregnant with my first baby.
I am looking for a bit of advice really in regards to working while pregnant. I have a very physically demanding and sometimes physically draining job. I work for a domestic abuse charity as a housekeeper, we house and rehome women and children fleeing domestic abuse etc. I am the only house keeper and work across different sites.
I am finding working very difficult as i feel exhausted. I am finding once i finish work i'm unable to get anything done for myself as i just need to rest and i'm not really doing anything on a weekend because i'm too physically exhausted.
My job involves cleaning the offices which i don't find all that demanding but it also involves end of tenancy cleans. Once a tenant finds permanent accomodation our properties become available for the next person/family and it's my job to go in and turn the house around ready for a new family. I am only given 5 days to completely turn the house around (sometimes 3 days) and nearly all of the properties are left in an awful, filthy state. I am having to clean walls, clean carpets, scrub inside and outside cupboards, clean the fridge freezer, clean the washing machine, scrub the bathroom and downstairs toilet, clean all the windows, window frames, clean all the doors, clean the sofas, bedframes, wardrobes etc. Once i've cleaned the property i then have to fill it with certain furnishings and make the bed up, put up the curtains, light shades etc. We seem to be getting an end of tenancy once every 2-3 weeks, some weeks we've had 2 at the same time. It's an excessive work for anyone to do and i found it tiring before i was pregnant.
I've no idea how i am expected to do this work in a few months time as it involves crawling into small areas and bending behind furniture etc. I am already not allowing myself to do certain things as i don't think i should be contorting my body in such ways when i'm carrying a baby!
I'm wondering if any one else has had a similar experience with physical work while pregnant? How can i deal with an excessive workload? Is it putting myself or my baby at risk? Am i just being pathetic?? I've already had a risk assessment at work but not much has changed other than being told not to lift anything heavy and to sit down regularly if need be. I'm also not sure how to raise it with the manager as obviously cleaning is my job but i feel the workload is unachievable for me at the minute.
Thanks for reading, any advice would be much appreciated