NHS Nusing assistant maternity start

[AliciaWalker123]

Hi all

Anyone else a nursing assistant for the nhs and been pregnant.
I'm just wondering when people had to start their maternity as I keep being told I'll be no use soon and I'm only 17 weeks 😔 I really want to work as far as possible. Was just looking for other peoples opinions and when they had to take their leave?

Thanks

I'm an HCA on an acute medical ward. I intended to work until about 34 weeks then take a fortnight annual leave. I ended up finishing at 32 weeks because my body couldn't handle it any more. The twelve hour shifts were a killer and it took me an entire day to recover from them. For a few weeks before that I was struggling - I found it hard to turn patients, and, I wasn't allowed to go near a lot of the patients due to them being barrier nursed and their condition being potentially dangerous to me or to baby. Some members of staff were more understanding than others but I generally didn't feel able to do my job properly and felt that it wasn't fair on myself, the baby, my colleagues, or the patients for me to continue any longer.

Every pregnancy is different though - you may be fine. This has been a complicated pregnancy and I also have chronic pain issues.

You can work up to as late as you want in your pregnancy. I worked up to 36 weeks, taking 4 weeks before due date. Tapped annual leave onto beginning and end of Mat Leave. Take a look at the pregnancy policies or ask your manager to print these off for you or book a wee informal chat with an HR adviser. How dare they say you'll be no use so soon into your pregnancy!

They definitely shouldn't have said 'you'll be no use', that is not nice or appropriate. But HCA roles are very physically taxing with far less opportunity to be given desk based/sitting down work than other jobs, and so realistically a lot of people do struggle towards the end of pregnancy. Based on no science whatsoever, but lots of experience in NHS HR, I'd say most people in 'heavy duty' clinical roles with an 'ordinary'/low risk pregnancy make it to around 34 -8 ish weeks with some adjustments e.g. help lifting/turning patients, more frequent breaks - some then are able to do mainly ward clerking or other gentler work for a few weeks after that, sometimes the ward can make arrangements for shorter days/no night shifts which are a real killer, some people just tack on a couple weeks annual leave to be able to finish earlier. It really does depend though on how you are feeling and how much your ward is able to flex what they need you to do, no-one should be made to feel bad for putting their health and their baby first...