I currently work for the NHS and my job is physically demanding (I work with elderly so lot of heavy lifting).
I am now 21 weeks pregnant, and I’ve had a pretty rough time actually. Between sciatica, early bleeding, morning sickness, I’m now off with pelvic girdle pain, I’m waiting on a referral from a physiotherapist as I may need crutches to mobilise with the pain.
I recently had my 20 week scan and baby looks healthy, however my placenta is low and basically covering the exit so manual handling is off the table.
The thing is, I just cannot get over this guilt of being off sick. I feel like I’m being judged. When I first found out I was pregnant, the first thing my manager said to me was “try not to be off sick as much as when she got pregnant”. And tbh I think I might have been off more than her at this point. They’ve tried changing my shifts so I work shorter days, and there really isn’t anything I can do that doesn’t involve manual labour, I’ve spoke with occupational health yesterday and she was hinting that I won’t be back before I’m due to go off on maternity leave (current policy with COVID is I leave at 28 weeks).
Has anyone else felt this guilty and stressed with being off work even though I have perfectly reasonable medical conditions for being so?