Hi all,
I work as a teacher in a federation of three small schools and we spend a lot of time at each others schools, taking class trips together, staff meetings, planning meetings etc. We have an executive headteacher who travels from one school to another each day.
Recently, in one of the schools, there's been an outbreak of slap cheek. This has been in both children and adults (2 of whom are class teachers in my school and I work with on a daily basis.) I'm 25 weeks pregnant with my first child and my headteacher said that I didn't need to worry about slap cheek as it would only a problem to be around this illness in early pregnancy. I was dubious and called my midwife who had my blood tested for immunity which I do NOT have and this puts me at high risk of catching it. The illness increases risk of miscarriage. It has been suggested by my doctor that if a child in my class gets slap cheek, I am to leave work until the illness has cleared, or the school are to ask the child to leave. I said this to my school and was told by HR that if I choose to leave then they'll start my maternity leave early.
Has anyone been around slap cheek while pregnant before? Can my maternity leave be triggered early if I leave to protect myself and my child? I feel a bit overwhelmed by it all. Thanks in advance!