When to tell work your pregnant?

march142010

Working as a nurse, I am unsure when I should tell work I am pregnant, as I will need more help with lifting patients and such.  Please help

march142010

I should say I am about 5-6 weeks pregnant.

carrie3303

I had to tell work right away, as I'm a police officer. I had to come off the road. It was weird that everyone at work knew, but most of my family and friends did not yet.

I'm not sure how strenuous your job is physically, you certainly can lift. Just be smart about it. Use correct body mechanics ask for help. 

cosmogal7498

I told my boss the day I found out!  We are pretty close and she knew we were trying.  I felt that I had to tell her quickly b/c I am due in November and I'm a hairdresser and I started to panic b/c my clients need their hair done for the holidays.  She said it will work out and  not to worry!!!  You have to feel comfortable with telling.  Im sure you job is strenuous and I would take it easy and like Carrie said use your body correctly when lifitng (which Im sure you will!!)

MrsG.060708

There's no "correct" time to tell, other than when you are ready to.

NC112

I'll probably tell this week or next as I'm a research chemist so I have to be careful about what I'm working with these days... but this is my 2nd pregnancy and I've had the same job so I already know what I can & can't work with this time around.

teaching1

I am a teacher and plan on waiting until 12 weeks.  My husband thinks we should wait until we get our contracts for next year, which should be shortly.

fraglette

I think it depends on your work situation and what your doctor appointment schedule looks like.  What type of nurse are you?  I know some specialities, depending on the type of patients you're working with, it might be safer to disclose earlier. 

I also have a friend being followed by an RE who has weekly appointments, so she disclosed early to explain the amount of absences she'd be having.

For a lot of us, with desk jobs, there's no need for an early disclosure because our jobs don't really anything which could put our health at risk.  I'm not saying anything to my work until second trimester.

HeidiP14

In your situation I would tell earlier but its your call as to when to tell. I would tell earlier b/c of being safe with the lifting patients as you mentioned. In my case I am telling everyone at work this week and I am 13 weeks now but I work in an office. 

skyfarm15

I work as a nurse, and I told my manager when I was just a couple weeks, but more so for protection.  We handle alot of cytotoxic meds and infectious diseases that I needed to watch out for.  I have had to tell some of my peers as well so I don't get assigned to those kind of patients.  You will likely be showing when its time to be careful about lifting and boosting, and your coworkers will likely help you out.

lovemymaddy

If you need to make arrangements to do things to keep yourself safe at work then i'd tell asap!

sapphireprinces

I have decided not to tell until my clothes don't fit, LOL!  My work is in turmoil now and a ton of people are getting laid off so I am sort of staying off the radar.  I have a desk job so it is no big deal. 

Mrs. Alice

I am a nurse also and was planning on waiting until after my first u/s to confirm everything was going okay.  Unfortunately 1 week after I found out I was pregnant, I was assigned to a patient with shingles and had to fess up that I was pregnant and couldn't take that assignment.  Any how, since several people found out I decided to just not keep it a secret at that point.

studyinpink

I'm a neonatal nurse and had to start telling people at about 4-5 weeks to avoid being assigned patients that could have CMV and other things that would be really bad for my baby...as well as having other nurses position/hold the babies for X-Rays etc.  

Tell when you are comfortable but consider environmental hazards etc. of your patient demographic on your unit. 

march142010

I want to say thanks to everyone who responded.  I am going to tell my manager this week along with some of the others just to be able to have someone else know.  They will be able to help with lifting patients and understand the assigned patients I may not be able to take on.