What is pregnancy related sickness?

[OrangeRainbow]

Hi,

I'm currently pregnant and confused as to what counts as pregnancy related sickness and ultimately, who decides this.

I had a week off early in my pregnancy due to bleeding which resulted in a trip to hospital and was told to rest - this was recorded as pregnancy related.

I’ve had a couple of days off recently as I felt really funny - morning sickness returned leading to nausea, going light headed and almost passing out, feeling weak, migraines and blurred vision. At first I was worried about pre-eclampsia however it appears that it may be more to do with my iron levels due to the pregnancy, and I will be getting further bloods to look at my iron levels. However, although I explained all of the symptoms to my manager and told her I would be speaking to my midwife for advice, she has not recorded this as pregnancy related and instead it has been recorded as a migraine.

I don’t want to come across as difficult by challenging this, and maybe I have been naive and this wouldn’t count as pregnancy related sickness - can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks

Anything that you feel is pregnancy related but you do need a dr note saying pregnancy related on it then
They can't question it

Thank you - only problem is I am self certifying as I was only off for a couple of days, so the doctor wouldn’t do a fit note for this

Does it matter? If it’s only a few days self certified then why does it need to be down as PR?

Obviously it matters, you get additional protections if sickness is pregnancy related, for example it doesn’t count towards any disciplinary triggers and it’s illegal to treat an employee unfairly because of it.

OP, just politely ask your manager to correct it on your record.

Too bloody right !! Nothing should be on your sick record while you are pregnant unless it’s CLEARLY not related .. ie Broken finger ..

Too bloody right !! Nothing should be on your sick record while you are pregnant unless it’s CLEARLY not related .. ie Broken finger ..

Thanks all I will speak to my manager in the return to work interview and make it clear it was pregnancy related.

Hoping it was a genuine mistake and hasn’t been done knowingly!

Is you manager a medic?
Who has the ability to make a medical diagnosis?
If not they dont get to make medical diagnosis.

If not they dont get the right to record medical data on your HR record when you dont agree to the facts and they have no other basis for the record. That is a whole data collection and storage issue in and of its self.
Also if the opinion recorded (ignoring pregnancy) is used against you it has a natural justice and fair processing problem which is why orgs hire OH and real doctors for professional opinions.

The logic
You stated that the underlying cause created / manifested symptoms

nausea
going light headed
almost passing out
feeling weak,
migraines
blurred vision

So possible stroke too.....

I have food triggered migraines.
If i dont eat the foods i know cause that type of migraine i dont get that type of migraine.

If you were not pregnant you would not get morning sickness which caused the migraine so the migraine is a morning sickness migraine.

Tbh i would stop giving detailed answers to her if she is choosing to log this as normal SL.

I was unwell due to my pregnancy but am able to return to normal duties as of today...
And ask to be referred out to a proper doctor / OH or who ever your HR policy say, if she wants someone to record details.

I would make sure she records this accurately as if your company has triggers due sickness monitoring then pregnancy related would not count to any triggers.
If you have informed her of the pregnancy then she shouldn’t question you.
pregnancy is protected.

Quite apart from the sickness record, did you seek immediate medical attention for the blurred vision? See Tommy’s leaflet on vision problems in pregnancy.

Thanks, this is why I’m confused as to why she has put it as a migraine as I explicitly said that I would be seeking advice from my midwife on the symptoms

Yes my blood pressure was fine so looks like it’s low iron, I’ll be having blood tests this week