Any other healthcare moms?

rachrobertson

So I am so anxious for these next 16 weeks to fly by. I am obviously very excited to meet my little very active man and for this rainbow pregnancy to be safely behind me. I am trying to enjoy this pregnancy as much as I can and gave been able to relax a little and enjoy it now that I can feel his kicks and movements. However, work is stressing me out!!! I work in healthcare (respiratory therapist) in a very large hospital that has a diverse group of patients as well as offering a higher level of care. Translation, I run all over the place and have the.potential to be exposed to numerous things that aren't particularly something you want to get while pregnant. Some things are not posted on doors to warn of what you could be exposed to. Main example is CMV. We are the only hospital in the state that does lung transplants and almost all of those patients are CMV+. I have requested to not be on those units while pregnant, but my assignment many times includes helping that unit or covering for the therapist in that unit when they have to take another patient off the floor. I feel like I have to tell someone daily that I can't care for a patient that to them seems safe for a pregnant caregiver. I am over it and I am afraid others are getting annoyed with it as well. I am willing to go in flu rooms, common cold rooms, pneumonia, etc. But I draw the line with CMV and TB which is not hospital policy to protect pregnant workers against. Just needed to rant. Am I alone?

PlainJane8350

Congratulations! I'm not in health care, but don't feel bad about refusing certain patients and definitely don't care what other people think. If they wouldn't go get a baby from the nursery and take it into that room, then they should understand that you're taking care of your baby on the inside just as they would a baby that was already born.

AnonymousMom

I'm a physician who delivered a healthy baby three months ago.  I worked up until shortly before my LO's birth (and sadly was back at work right before they turned four weeks old) so I completely understand your concerns.  What I did was just be very vigilant about following appropriate precautions (although I was before as well so this wasn't really new). Appropriate precautions will do a lot (i.e. I cared for probably a dozen CMV infants, some CMV transplant/chemo patients and I'm still CMV negative) and sometimes it is the things you don't realize will be an issue that are (i.e. As a resident I did not give a pregnant medical student a patient I suspected likely had active TB--well they did end up having active TB.  Unfortunately the Hep C positive Variceal Bleed patient I gave her instead ended up growing N. meningitidis out of his blood cultures---of course she couldn't take Ciprofloxacin for prophylaxis along with the rest of the hospital due to her pregnancy. It wasn't completely the end of the world because she had no allergies and was able to get the Ceftriaxone injection but in reality as long as she was using an appropriate respirator she probably would have been better off with the TB patient.)

rkrichey

You're exposed to a lot more than I am but I still worry. I'm a dental hygienist and sometimes cleanings can get very very bloody. It bothers me even when I'm not pregnant. I wonder if they've been truthful with their med histories bc a lot of people don't think dentist offices really need to know your whole history. Which is just not true. I also worry about bring around radiation so much. I take X-rays all day long. I always leave the room when I take them but still. So I get where you're coming from. All I can do is make sure I've protected myself as much as I possibly can and try to keep everything extremely clean. Good luck!