High risk pregnancy and short term disability

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I need help. I am 5 months pregnant and I have a short cervix that measures 2.7 cm when it should measure 3.5-4cm. I am seeing 2 doctors and one of those is my MFM (Maternal fetal medicine) doctor who specializes in high risk pregnancies. I was told I might need a cerclage and progesterone injections if my cervix reaches 2.5 cm in length. The risk is that as the baby keeps growing I might have a preterm delivery. I work as a RN in a cardiac PCU which specializes in open heart surgery and lung surgeries. My assignments involve 3-4 patients and we have no techs. I just received a letter from my OBGYN stating that I am not to lift at all. She also put me on limited duty. She wants me to increase hydration, void more, sit more and not to bend, squat, and lift at all. These are all the things I do on a daily basis. I am afraid of losing my baby. I gave the letter to my boss and he told be to file for a Leave of absence early. He wants me to leave now. I am so heart broken because if I leave now I will only get paid from my paid days off or PDO and then I am left stranded. I asked to relocate me in another position and he said he is over staffed. I pay for short term disability and long term disability. Does anyone know how does this work. My other doctor MFM wants to see me in 2 weeks and he will determine then if I need cerclage with progesterone injections and probably bed rest. Please help me. Thank you

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

These are concerns that only your physician and your HR department can help you with.

Best wishes.

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Specializes in orthopedic/trauma, Informatics, diabetes.

can you not get your FMLA paperwork in?

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
can you not get your FMLA paperwork in?

FMLA won't give her a paycheck, it just protects her job. And it only lasts 12 weeks.

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Specializes in Palliative, Onc, Med-Surg, Home Hospice.

OP do you have short term disability insurance through work? If you do, find out when it kicks in, what you need to do to qualify for payments and file for FMLA now. (My husband had to be out for 2 weeks before his disability kicked in, but only if he filed FML). You should be able to get this info from HR

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

HR should be able to advise you on std. Hugs!

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Specializes in Critical care.

Short term disability will only pay you 50-60% of your salary (which is certainly better than nothing). I'm sorry you are going through this and good luck. I'm currently using my STD because of an accident. I am not on FMLA, just medical leave, as I haven't been at my current job long enough for FMLA. I've been considering something like Aflac for the future. If I could be on modified duty I wouldn't have to be out as long, but I have to be able to be full duty. If I was in almost any other profession I would have been back to work weeks ago.

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I had this happen with both of my babies. Follow doctor's orders, and go on short term and then long term disability. They pay 60% of your base pay. They usually allow you to make the 40% up with PTO...but that part is State and company specific, so you will need to ask.

Also talk to your boss about how long after delivery they expect you back. 6 weeks is typical for lady partsl delivery, 8 for a c-section. By delivery, I was out of FMLA both times and on a non-FMLA leave of absence at the tail end.

My boss the first time said I absolutely had to be back at exactly 6 weeks; due to not having any more FMLA, she could say that. A different boss the second time was friendlier and allowed me to choose how long I stayed out, regardless of my lack of FMLA at that point. However, the disability payments stopped once I hit 6 weeks post partum lady partslly.

And things can turn out well...My first baby had 5 millimeters of cervix left at 24 weeks, couldn't get a cerclage due to her gestational age. Strict bed rest, a few hospitalizations for me for the preganancy, lots of tocolytic meds, and we made it to 36 weeks. She had a bit of a NICU stay, but all is well and she is now 13.

I was able to get progesterone shots with my second baby starting at 18 weeks. My cervical length with him was 2.1cm at 21 weeks..That was 11 years ago and they wouldn't cerclage unless you were under 2 cm and only cerclage up to 22 weeks. So he didn't get a stitch. I went on strict bed rest then with tocolytics. My lowest cervical length with him was 9 mm...I was dilated to 3 cm by 30 weeks, so I obviously stayed on bed rest. That being said. That baby made it to a whopping 39 weeks prior to my delivery and skipped NICU all together. He's 11 this month!

Good luck!

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I want to thank everyone on all of your responses. I ended up calling HR after 4 attempts and finally they called me back. They want a copy of the physician's letter with a start date and an ending date of my activity limitations. I just called my OBGY requesting this info. I told the HR representative that my boss told me to leave; she said that all disability letters should go to HR before any determination. I just don't understand why my boss never sent HR my letter. I am happy that the HR rep may be able to relocate me in another area where I can work, get paid and not sacrifice the health of my unborn child or mine. She wants a copy of the letter and then she will meet with another HR person and my boss. Hopefully they will be able to help. I will keep you all posted on how it's going.

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