Telling students you're pregnant

starrynite96 · November 2015

So....the last time I was pregnant, the last 12 weeks of the school year were my first 12 weeks of pregnancy. This time, I will be pregnant throughout the entire school year, giving birth around the end of May. I teach high school, mainly 10th grade(special ed, esol, and regular ed) and then 2 sections of law that are 11th and 12th grade (very sharp kids). I'm trying to think of a creative way to tell them since I know they are going to figure it out soon--some already have since they have had me before and have been wondering why I've been so sick and my energy has been down. Any ideas bumpies?

kbrands7 · November 2015

I just told my 11th grade students a couple of weeks ago. Each Friday, we do a quick check-in/reflective circle to start class instead of a regular warm-up; I always participate in the circles too. The question for the warm-up was something along the lines of "What was something good about this past week?" When it was my turn, I shared that I had an appointment earlier that week in which I got to see that my 2nd baby was strong and healthy so far, and announced that I was due in May. Like typical high school students, a good many were excited and asked a bunch of questions, a few shrugged and were mostly concerned whether or not I would teach them through the semester, and a few have been sort of clingy since and have asked to touch my stomach (nope!).

emma+karen · November 2015

I'm a school librarian, so I don't have regular classes of students that I teach to tell, though I do have "regulars" in the library and one of them already caught me vomiting when she stopped in early one morning! I am not planning any kind of announcement, but will let them figure it out as I start to show. I've already told my principal, a couple co-workers that I'm close to...once we announce on Facebook, I figure word will start to spread. There's another teacher who's due about a month before me, so I'm in good company!

Soontobejones33 · November 2015

I'm not a teacher but I do work with student age children. We have three groups that I interact with daily. I told the individual groups with cupcakes. Because cake makes everything great. I gave them the chance to ask questions and made sure they knew the time frame. Most should be gone before I'm due. Also I tried to impress upon them that my immune system is comprised and that they need to watch themselves around me when they don't feel well. No touching me please!

saltedcaramel518 · November 2015

Your students may be too old for this, but my teacher friend played hangman with her elementary students. The phrase was "Mrs. __ is having a baby!"

Charla1224 · November 2015

I'm a school counselor/ social worker and I began telling students around 12 weeks when most of my coworkers learned from social media. I've been sharing with students in small groups or one on one depending on what I perceive would be best for them. I'm in an elementary school so, my students are all super excited and have questions daily about the baby's sex, name, what she'll look like.... everything. The best part so far has been how nice some of our worst behaved kiddos have been. I've become a kid whisperer. No one wants to be mean or defiant towards the pregnant lady.

laurenmdrn16 · November 2015

I remember with my son, I found out in February...just as I was starting rehearsals for the Spring drama production. The co-advisor for the drama club was also pregnant so we announced together and the kids (high school age) had a blast imagining our unborn children dating and getting married some day. They correctly predicted that I would have a boy and their other director would have a girl. Some of the older girls begged to be babysitters. Most of the boys didn't really seem to care. Except one. Our male lead, who had never been cast in a show and was a senior (he had always worked backstage, but I begged him to audition and he was fantastic!), suddenly became extremely protective of us pregnant ladies. He wouldn't let us lift anything and kept bringing us water and chairs. If I called 5 to use the bathroom, he would quietly ask if I was feeling ok, if I needed a snack etc. I was absolutely shocked that a 17 year old boy who was usually a little withdrawn and shy was so extremely attentive and understanding. After he got rave reviews for his starring performance I asked if he was considering going to college for performing arts. He smiled slyly and handed me the letter that he got into a very prestigious nursing program! As the school nurse, my heart just burst! He said he realized that his favorite part of drama club was learning about pregnancy (he did a whole bunch of research on his own) and he wanted to work as a maternity nurse. His mom was absolutely shocked and very proud...up until that point he really wasn't sure what he wanted to do and now he had a strong passion and direction. That was three years ago.

Guess who I saw when I went in for one of my recent appointments? Yup, my Mr. Knightly! He is a student nurse doing his practicum at the hospital and may even be working on the maternity floor by the time I deliver my second child. Kind of weird, but also very cool in a full circle kind of way!

So just be aware that it might mean more to your students than you think that you let them in on this huge part of your life. I have elementary school aged students now, so I think I may wait until I am much closer to leaving for maternity leave before telling them. Younger children tend to have difficulty understanding concepts of time and are very narcissistic. So if you say "I am pregnant" all they hear is how it affects them, that their teacher (or nurse, or librarian etc) is leaving them. It is best to wait and give them just enough time to understand, but not too much time or they may get confused, like "Wait, I thought Ms. So and So said she was leaving us? Why is she still here?" All they really need to know is that they will be ok, they will have a great new teacher (nurse/librarian etc) while you are gone, and that it won't affect the rest of their school year even if you aren't there for the last part. Since I am due May 2nd, I will probably start telling my regulars (diabetics, asthmatics, daily meds, frequent flyers) and their parents right after February break (last week in February). That way I can start orienting my sub and reassure students and parents that they will be in great hands to finish out the year, even if I go a little early. I am sure some kids may notice before since I will have a bump, but usually younger kids don't notice that stuff, especially since when they come to see the nurse it is all about them. My arm could be falling off and they wouldn't notice! That is why I don't think anyone has figured out even though students have walked in on me vomiting quite a few times.

starrynite96 · November 2015

Yeah--I'm telling them earlier since our last day of school is June 8 and I won't miss too much time as long as everything goes as planned. Also--as my coteacher said--do you want them to ask you why you're gaining weight? He knows me well--we've been working together for awhile.

Just trying to think of that creative way. May even be hoping that it calms one of my classes down--did a few years ago!

lalala2004 · November 2015

I'm going to tell my students right before they leave for Christmas break. I'm just hoping I can hide it until then. I figure it willinmoze distraction, and I can tell them the sex and get that out of the way all at once. I don't want them to be worried about me being gone longer than necessary. I teach 6th grade.

amscape · November 2015

I dread telling them & hope there's no reason for this dread. I teach teens with trauma backgrounds, gang members, teen parents, former dropouts, etc and I know the fact that I won't be there for the entire year will not go over well. I'm due the 26th, school won't end for another month (great timing really!). I'm hoping for some of other peoples experiences where tough students become great but not holding my breath. Never know though! Some will be excited.

No staff at my school has ever been pregnant (staff of 9) so it is going to be new for all of us!

Charla1224 · November 2015

amscape said:
I dread telling them & hope there's no reason for this dread. I teach teens with trauma backgrounds, gang members, teen parents, former dropouts, etc and I know the fact that I won't be there for the entire year will not go over well. I'm due the 26th, school won't end for another month (great timing really!). I'm hoping for some of other peoples experiences where tough students become great but not holding my breath. Never know though! Some will be excited.

No staff at my school has ever been pregnant (staff of 9) so it is going to be new for all of us!

I moved quickly to tell my clinical clients because of their trauma backgrounds. Several of my kiddos need the time to plan for and develop coping strategies around knowing I'll be gone before the school year ends. I'll be revisiting this probably monthly to help them prepare and make sure they don't feel off guard. I also moved to tell them quickly because I didn't want them to "find out." One student saw me puking early on and figured out that I was pregnant. She had a really negative reaction... She felt like I didn't trust her and/ or had been lying to her when I said I didn't feel good before. She helped me realize it was best that students heard directly from me rather than learning about it when they saw a bump. Sharing with them helped us build stronger therapeutic relationships where we spoke honestly.

vdyck · November 2015

I just told my Grade 7 students today that my husband and I were expecting. We do daily announcements at the beginning of the day and I showed them our pregnancy reveal photo (they totally thought I was showing them a video! Haha). They were very excited but sad that I was leaving them at the end of May. Bonus is now I have a bunch of students already volunteering to babysit.

I'm 13 weeks along and decided to tell them now since I'm starting to show.

JoMunson · November 2015

I told my students after my first ultra sound. They've really taken the baby on as "theirs"- especially with cleaning the room and being good so I can stay calm. We even have "baby talk" on Mondays where I tell them how big the baby is and what it's developing! They're really into it!
I teach second and third grade, btw

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