Working while Pregnant

Re: Working while Pregnant

• portentosa member

  April 2022

  When I was pregnant with my first I worked retail and had accommodations in the third trimester... no lifting over 15 lbs, allowed to sit on a stool at the cash register, and allowed to visit the bathroom as often as needed.
  
  Now I work as a research scientist and I had to declare my pregnancy as soon as I knew about it.... so only in my 3rd week... because I work with things that are dangerous to fetal health. Had to change around a couple things, but otherwise work is normal. I anticipate lifting and working around heat restrictions to come up as I get further along.
  
  I've heard of office accommodations like moving your cubicle closer to the restroom or shorter hours... maybe you could ask for flex work from home hours if they are transitioning back to the office. So you have the option to stay home on rough days.

  

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• lulam13 member

  April 2022 edited April 2022

  I have been wfh ft since March 2020 when I was pregnant with my first! So I haven’t been working in the office for over two years. They brought us back but gave me an extension to continue wfh ft until my daughter is able to receive a Covid vaccine. I also have an option to work with hr and my ob to create a reasonable accommodation to continue wfh ft through my pregnancy. But I don’t want to take advantage. I just DO NOT want Covid and be pregnant then bring that home to my daughter. We’ve spent the past 2 years keeping our bubble very clean and tight, never got Covid and don’t plan to now!

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• scoutkate member

  April 2022

  I'm equipped to WFH (and do so on occasion if I need to stay home with my daughter) but over the past two years I've seen over and over a decline in collaboration and productivity in my department relative to the number of employees WFH at any given time.  Most everyone in my department is back in the office now, but I have had to lean pretty heavily on one of my direct reports who repeatedly misses deadlines when they WFH, goes offline for hours at a time, etc, so I'll feel like a hypocrite if I end up WFH for an extended period of time during this pregnancy--even though I know our situations are totally different.  
  
  

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