I'm due to deliver a week before clinicals start. Should I take a semester off?

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I am a junior in a 5 year nursing program and recently found out that I am pregnant. I'm not worried about being pregnant for the next semester, as I'm still working strictly in the classroom; but I am due to deliver the week before the next fall semester (when we start clinicals). A friend suggested that I take a semester off to spend time with my newborn and heal, but if I miss one semester in the program I'm in, I have to miss the entire year. Has anyone had a newborn while they were in clinicals? I guess I just need some reassurance that it's doable.

Specializes in Medical Surgical.

The thing of it is, you need to decide for yourself what is best for you. And as several people have said, it can be done. But, as with all things in life, there is a trade-off. And missing a year of being an RN vs. most of the first few months of your first child's life... No, that is not something I would recommend to anyone. I regret every school play I missed, every soccer game, every picnic we didn't have. And yes, I enjoy my career, but it could have waited. All I'm saying is to think about all sides of it because once the choice is made, either way, there are advantages and disadvantages besides just wondering if you can survive a really tough time.

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I too am pregnant and worried, I start clinicals in January. I found out I was pregnant a month into my first semester and I had hyperemesis so I was throwing up constantly and at 4 months I am still throwing up and nausiated constantly its been so hard for me to stay motivated being so sick I have even been in the hospital for dehydration from the constant vomiting. I am due to give birth in June at the start of Adult 1 clinicals which I am told are one of the more difficult semesters, this was not planned for me and my husband either we are both in college. I have wondered if I should take off a year also but my nursing professors have reassured me that it is doable and that they would do everything they could to help me get through it. I feel your anxiety! I just keep telling myself that I have come this far so why give up now?

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Wow, definently sounds like we're in the same boat just months apart :); we aren't married yet (that was supposed to happen in June, not now since I'll be around 7 months and pry huge), but my fiance is still in school as well. I've been talking to a lot of people that say it's exhausting but doable-especially if we get the support at home and definently at school. I also talked to a nurse at work tonight who had both her children while she was in nursing school-she said it took her four years to finish a two year program, but she made it so that kind of gave me the motivation that even if I DO have to take a semester off, it'll be ok; if we're motivated enough we'll finish eventually :)

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Whats the worse that could happen? In my situation my professors said if I need to drop during the semester I will start back where I left off the following year so its worth a try and if you cant do it then drop and come back the following year, your still really young you have plenty of time but dont let people scare you into thinking you should take off there is another girl in my program who is pregnant about a month and a half ahead of me and she is doing it also I think it depends on the person and how motivated you are and if your going to be working still when the baby comes, I am in an evening nursing program so my classes are at night and clinicals on weekends and I am not working and have a lot of family support so I will have all day during the day with the baby and my husband will be home in the evenings while I am in class. If you have your fiance and family you can make it work. Good luck to you and just try and stay positive and motivated I know it can be hard with the pregnancy blues!

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I had a baby a week before finals for a&p II, chemistry, and developmental psych, and managed to get As in all three classes. I am a junior in a four year nursing program and my baby is one and I haven't had to take a semester off. It is REALLY hard, but it is doable if you have support.

But you need to make this decision based on your situation. I talked to all my teachers before to make sure they would be flexable if something went wrong during delivery. And my husband and family are both really supportive of my school and is always willing to help if I need to study. I am lucky and have been able to get through three semesters with a baby. I would talk to your school - will you be able to make up clinicals if something goes wrong during the delivery? Do you have childcare available? Are you willing to miss out on the early moments with your baby? What about breast feeding vs. bottle feeding? And are you financially stable enough to delay your school for a year? In my situation, I really couldn't afford a year off.

You need to figure out what is best for you. It is definitely doable, but it might not be the best choice for you and your baby.

Congrats - as you will soon find out, babies are wonderful :)

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In the last semester of my ADN program, in February i had baby. The clinical instructor was nice, but she was not lenient. When i was pregnant I was given light duties, but a week after giving birth they gave me the option of 2 weeks off and miss two clinical. But I did not want to have a weak grade, so I did a CCU critical for 12 hrs a week after my baby was born.It was hard esp physically. Since my hubby had just moved to another state for his new job, I had very hard time studying esp since the baby slept the whole day at daycare and was awake the whole night. That last semester, i took all the classses online and my clinicals suffered a little but I thought it was worth it esp since i did not want to wait the whole yr. I passed the adn course and also my Nclex. My sister stayed with me for a month and helped out the baby until the baby was ready for daycare. Maybe a family member can help out with the baby.

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

I'm a guy so I haven't been pregnant and will never be pregnant but here is my opinion on the issue. We have people on here who say that you need to take the semester off because you don't want to miss that time with your child and then we have people on here who say you can keep going with the program and just finish it up. Personally, I couldn't begin to tell you what you should do because that is something that your going to need to figure out on your own. You need to sit down with your significant other and discuss this with them as well as your nursing professors. This is a decision that your going to have to live with and if you do what you feel is right in your heart then its the right decision. I can say that when I was born my mother went back to full time work a week after I was born because she had to for financial reasons and although she wishes that she could have spent more time with me as a baby she knew she did what she had to do and I'm ok with that. If you have a good support system at home and understanding nursing professors then it is possible to do the semester and to do well but if you think you can't handle being away from your child that early then you should save yourself the time and trouble and wait a year to go back. I will just say that when you take time off its twice as hard to go back to school, you will end up finding reasons to not go back and it will be more difficult getting used to being in school after being out of school for a year. Good luck with your decision, I'm sure whatever you choose it will be right for you!

!Chris :specs:

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I'm also a man and I will never have any idea of what you're going through and what you're going to deal with.

But my perspective is from someone who had a lot of things going on in his life and decided to take time off from school. It was almost 30 years later before I started going to nursing school.

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I'm 46. I am also a VERY left brained person so even though I am female, I am not a emotive as the average woman.....in many ways I think more like a man! :coollook: I point this out, because it probably plays into my advice.

I have seen WAY too many folks take a semester or two off.......and go back 20 yrs later. There will always be "reasons" to stay home with the child......so then you promise to go back when this kid hits 1, then when they start K, then when they graduate HS. If you stay the course, you can be proud of your acheivements early and use a 'work hard ethic' in teaching your child....because YOU did it first.

I have worked my entire adult life. For the past 25 years *I* have been the primary or sole income provider. (Yep....divorced the deadbeats.) Out of necessity I would go right back to work after having a child. At one point I had 5 children under 7 and went back to work 1 week after child number 5 was born. I had short maternity leave available for the others as well except for my first where as an active duty AF officer, I got a month off :D.

I spent my children's teen years as a single mom of 5. But, understand this -> because I did the practical thing when they were young, my children never 'wanted' for anything while teens even though I never got my child support! I have bought beautiful new construction houses. They had their own bedrooms. I have bought them their first cars. We became very close. Oh yeah, they were spoiled! But, my kids are so proud of what I was able to provide for them. They now realize - as adults - what I did BECAUSE I had an education. They now realize what it took to get them the lifestyle they enjoyed. I now have 3 in college (2 went back after brief stints in the Army) and a DD who is a combat medic going to NS when she gets out. My youngest in still in HS and just received the honor of being inducted to the National Honor Society. My refrigerator is covered in letters of congratulations for Pres lists and Dean's lists!

Yes, it could have been special for me to hang with my oldest for a year and go back....but I wouldn't have....4 of my children a birth control failures! They are 23, 21, 20, 19, 16. Do you see the challege I would have had?

Do what is best for you.

Personally, I would sacrifice the time now (that they won't remember) for the big payoff later for the time when they will!:D

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I'm not sure in your area, but I know that no daycares would take my niece until she was at least 6 weeks old. do you have adequate child care available to you while you'd be in school? If not, maybe you should take the time off.

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Specializes in Medical Surgical.

If you decide to go back right away, I would at the minimum clarify what the expectations are from your instructors. I have seen cases where students with children and instructors are not on the same page as to what is reasonable. Students look at how hard they are trying and how much the children are demanding. Understandably. Instructors must look at the big picture and what the future patients will need the student to have learned during that clinical. I'm not suggesting any student here would deliberately have less than adequate standards, it's just best for all the cards to be on the table.

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Wow FLmomof5. That is a life lesson well experienced and communicated.

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