Pregnant working in a call centre and struggling

[YourEagerFox]

I'm looking for opinions and advice on what to do in my situation.

I’m 13 weeks pregnant and work part-time (3 days a week) in an extremely busy call centre. I am starting to really struggle. A few weeks ago I went to my GP for heart palpitations and breathlessness. She took my blood pressure and said it was slightly elevated but not massively. She also did some blood tests which came back normal.

The issue I'm having is I'm becoming extremely panicked and anxious on difficult calls/angry customers. It's call after call without a break and being so breathless makes it hard to talk for hours on end. Whenever the call is difficult the breathlessness becomes worse and I start to go into a state of panic (fast heart rate, hands shaking, heart palpitations) because it stops me from talking normally. Under normal circumstances I dislike difficult calls but can manage. However I seem to react differently to stress when pregnant to the point I can’t tolerate it and go into a meltdown.

Now I'm terrified the stress will affect my baby and it's driving me to a mental breakdown. For context I have one child who's 5 years old and has special needs. He's severely autistic, can't speak and significantly delayed developmentally. I also worked in a call centre when I was pregnant with him and experienced episodes of extreme anxiety (due to my job) which I think affected my pregnancy. I had a few episodes of reduced movement, and ended up with regular growth scans at the end.

I've read online that anxiety in the mother can affect brain development and I'm so upset. The call centre I work in has alternative work off the phones (answering emails, general admin duties). Would it be unreasonable of me to request time off the phones and alternative work while I'm pregnant? I was thinking of seeing my GP and asking for a note for amended duties but unsure if they would grant this for stress/breathlessness?

I've worked for my organisation for nearly 3 years. No issues in my work performance, every work review I’ve had has always been perfect. I'm worried if I request this they could look to sack me or put me on disciplinary?

Financially I need this job to support my family. My husband is very worried as the child is very much wanted and told me I have to request this for me and the baby’s wellbeing.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Def go and see your doctor. Discuss your concerns and put in your work request. And for everyone else reading this poor woman’s post don’t be mean to call centre workers!!

Please do what you can to avoid the intense stress. Sounds like you have options to look at, start with those.

They won’t sack you but you do need to try and manage this - you’re only 13 weeks and can’t start maternity leave for a long time yet! Have a chat with your supervisor. As you are pregnant you should have a work risk assessment completed and strategies to manage this should be considered as part of that. If your company has occupational health you could speak with them and I’d also discuss with your GP.

First of all - I don’t think your extreme stress in your last pregnancy caused your son’s autism. So just put that aside.
That said, it sounds like you have severe perinatal anxiety that is influenced by the experience of having a child with severe additional needs. So absolutely go back to your GP and explain how you feel and how it is impacting upon your day to day life and experience of work. If there is a role available for you to do work that points your exposure to stress then that sounds like a really reasonable accommodation.

I work for a call centre and I totally get it that when you are hormonal it's difficult to manage difficult calls.
The first trimester is so hard. It will pass.
Stop worrying that the anxiety is going to harm the baby- this cyclical ruminating thought process is very reminiscent of OCD / health anxiety. I can't word myself correctly. But do u know what mean? Like your worrying about the worrying is worse. It isn't going to harm the baby. But you need to look after your mental health and stop stressing x

Definitely ask for a meeting with your manager and explain what's been happening. They are not going to sack you, that would be discriminatory.
You could request to be put on admin duties, or perhaps you could manage a split between the two so that it's not so full on.

Thank you all for the advice. I feel more confident now requesting amendments with my manager. I’ll try to see my GP asap. I blame myself for my son’s disability so I want to do everything right this time.

@Wavescrashingonthebeach I do have diagnosed OCD and it’s something I definitely need to work on. Thank you for the reassurance x

Pregnancy hormones can set off OCD both before and after the birth so just try and get whatever support u need for that. Intrusive thoughts are awful. You have my sympathy. Hope it passes soon for u x