Can you be pregnant in nursing school?

dorkypanda · Jul 1, 2016

Congratulations on your acceptance and baby on the way. I just finished up my first year out of a 2 yr program and someone from our cohort got pregnant during the 2nd half of the 1st year and I believe she delivered after our finals. I don't think you should wait out for next fall due to your pregnancy.

bellakat · Jul 1, 2016

What is your schools policy? My school is okay with it, you just need a doctors permission and you won't have to do any lifting. Maybe you can do this fall, and take a leave the second semester off. Depending if leaves are allowed.

leikela91 · Jul 1, 2016

I'm not sure, just today I took the at home tests and I keep re-taking them because I'm in disbelief. I'm overjoyed but I really wants to wait until after school. I'm so scared to email my admissions officer to see what they say.

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Jul 1, 2016

Congratulations! I had my first child while in nursing school. The semester I delivered, they put me in the clinical group that went first, so was able to complete my shifts while 34-38 weeks pregnant. The rest of the semester, I had some community health stuff but otherwise all classroom/solo studying.

I'd check with your school, though. You'd need your provider's advice on how long into your pregnancy you can work/attend clinical, but you don't want to be doing that physical work in the postpartum period either.

augurey · Jul 2, 2016

Congratulations!

Definitely check with your school. Each school handles pregnancy differently. You'll need to find out what their policies are - see if their normal policy is adjusted at all in the cases of pregnancy. What's acceptable in terms of any missed classes / clinicals / exams / etc? Do they require a doctor's note?

You'll want to know what their expectations are of you --- it may require additional paper work. You'll want to keep them in the loop of what's going on (like if you know you'll have to miss certain days, etc). If you have to make up exams or any work, stay on top of it. Go to them, and don't make them go to you (I only say this because when I followed up right away with make up assignments, they said that normally they have to chase after people to make things up). You'll want to know how to handle unexpected things that come up that you just simply can't anticipate that might keep you out.

I was 36 weeks when I started my first semester. I had a c section with my first. I was planning a vbac with my second, but I had to realistically plan for another c section. I first spoke with the chair of the program. I actually had met with her to discuss what they expected, and what my concerns were. We had to plan for the possibility of having to withdraw if I had to have a c section. Because of state requirements for clinical time, if I missed too much time, I might not have enough time to make up that time -- or I might have missed too much course work to be able to realistically make up. I was advised that if that were to happen, I would just withdraw for medical reasons. It'd leave me in good standing and would be able to re-enroll the next year. (Something else you'll want to know should you have to withdraw at any point)

I asked at what point would it be considered too much time to miss. She said about 3 weeks, but that wasn't set in stone. We'd have to just kind of wait and see. If I needed more than 3 weeks, we'd re-evaluate and see if it was realistic for me to return.

I also spoke with my instructors who were excellent and understanding. I think the main thing that really helped me was that I showed them that I was putting in the extra effort. I was on top of everything and remained on top of everything.

There may be things that come up during your pregnancy that you don't expect to happen or come up, but talk to them so that you know how to handle without the added stress of trying to figure it out. Like for me, I had a lot of problems with experiencing reduced movements starting at 38 weeks. One of the hardest things was determining when to miss class to go to L&D for monitoring or when to just go to class and kind of watch things from there. I had 2 false alarms with reduced movement where everything looked fine (the one time I had gone in early to take an exam so I could leave early if I needed to -- but that was still a hard thing to determine as I obviously had to look out for me and baby first, but I also didn't want to be too hasty and end up missing a lot over nothing). Two of times I had gone in, it was a good thing. The first time I was kept over night for observation and eventually sent home. The second time is when they decided to deliver as he wasn't looking good.

So find out how to handle situations that may (or may not) come up like that. I had to sign some paperwork outlining the plan for when I was out for delivery. It included any make up work / exams as well as anything substitute assignments. I adhered to it, and I made sure I was on top of everything during my time out (had out of class assignments) and once I returned.

Obviously this is applicable to my situation. There are numerous on here who have had both lady partsl deliveries and c sections that returned right away without having any substantial time off (I had taken 3 weeks).

It may not hurt to even talk to your doctor, and let them know you're in nursing school. I know it won't do much, but it may give you an idea as far as what to expect. My midwife knew I was in nursing school, and she reassured me that I should be able to go back (obviously not set in stone, but it was nice to have a little reassurance that returning to school shouldn't be a problem). They can't promise anything, but maybe it'll help you plan / prepare.

BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN · Jul 2, 2016

Why wouldn't you be able to lift while pregnant? If every woman's life was put on hold during pregnancy, there would be a whole lot of nothing being accomplished by thousands of women daily

What is your schools policy? My school is okay with it, you just need a doctors permission and you won't have to do any lifting. Maybe you can do this fall, and take a leave the second semester off. Depending if leaves are allowed.

Courtney M · Jul 2, 2016

A girl in my nursing class was pregnant in our first semester. She doubled up on clinicals because her due date was a couple weeks before the last day of class. She did amazing though and had one of the highest grades for the semester. We claimed it gave her unfair special powers, lol. But you can definitely do it!

NurseGirl525, ASN, RN · Jul 3, 2016

I had many people pregnant in my program. Several just had to sit out a semester. You may have to defer a semester depending on how it works after the baby. Before the baby is the easy part. It's leaving after they are born that is hard.

Congrats and Good Luck!!

windsurfer8, BSN, RN · Jul 3, 2016

Why are you "scared" to email the school to discuss your situation? Avoiding dealing with it won't solve anything and may very well increase anxiety. Get facts and move on. If you are in nursing school sometime look around your class. All kinds of people have all kinds of things going on in their lives. Address it and move on. Good luck!

eLeVatioN · Jul 3, 2016

You can do it. It may not be easy but it can be done. My school was pretty strict about absences. One classmate made it through with her pregnancy and postpartum needs. Another classmate gave birth to a baby who needed a lot of medical care and she was not able to finish in our program. Call them so you can make your informed decision on how to move forward. Ask them what their policy is on laying out a semester in case anything comes up related to your personal life. They can't tell you not to be pregnant but they can speak in terms of accessibility accommodation and absence policy.

applesxoranges, BSN, RN · Jul 4, 2016

Talk to your school. You will probably need to have a signed paper allowing you to attend clinical by your OB. We had one student who showed up to clinical a day after giving birth. There was another one who had to go on medical leave due to high blood pressure. Another one delivered in the last week, had complications that almost lead to an emergency hysterectomy and was in the hospital 1.5 weeks so she missed two clinicals that ended up with her having to withdraw that class for medical leave (she completed two clinicals at the same time at the end of the semester).