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.

My advice: weigh the pros and cons and try to plan the best you can. Do what YOU think is best.

Then allow life to happen. Don't beat yourself up if your plans change. Things happen for a reason. I think sometimes people get so wrapped up with what they are "supposed to do" and living up to other people's expectations. There will be people disapproving if you continue on, and there will be people that look down on you if you take a break. Once your baby is here, only YOU will know what is best for you to do!

Good Luck!

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Specializes in Emergency Nursing.

Another thing I also wanted to add to what I said earlier is, perhaps a little cliche but I think it holds true, that it doesn't always matter how much time you have to spend with someone but the quality of time you spend with them. Growing up there were some of my friends who had a stay-at-home mom (or dad) who spent a lot of time with them but because the parent was always at home and it wasn't necessarily quality time spent with their child it didn't make them any closer (in fact some of the them had worse relationships with the stay at home parent.) So what I'm saying is that basically you have to think about and make a decision having looked at it from multiple perspectives before you make a choice. You need to look at your own personal needs as well as your family's needs. Good luck!

!Chris :specs:

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I'm old, my kids are 32 and 36, and here's the advice my Dad (81 today) gave me when I first got married. Do you know what people who use the "rhythm method" are called? Parents. :D

LOL, that's what my mom used to say to me

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I think you should talk with you potential professor or a current professor you feel comfortable with. I think it'll depend a lot on how reasonable they will be with you. Consider if you have a c-section or 4th degree laceration, that might make an 8-12 hr shift pretty difficult the following week. Also, how much your significant other can assist you will be a huge factor. Best wishes and congratulations!

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Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.
There was a girl in my class this year who gave birth on a Mon and was there at clinicals on Thurs. She could not take a year off school. She was on light duty for moving patients, but she did not have to ask for help any more than any of the rest of us. The CI just did not give her pts that were full assists. So, it is doable!! I am sure if you have family support you will be fine. Good luck!!!

This is scary as well as dangerous and to me, the school set themselves up (as well as the instructor) for one heck of a liability.

The school, IMHO, simply, should not have permitted that without clearance from a physician.

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Specializes in NICU, Post-partum.
i use an iud and love it. i have no kids, and never want them at all.

i worked for a clinic like planned parenthood for 4+ years as a cna/ health assistant.

nfp/fam can work.. my question would be this..why not go for a more effective method like an iud?

so far, we have had 7 girls end up pregnant in my nursing class. 3 had an abortion and kept coming to class, the other's ended up dropping out because having a baby and doing clinicals was not working well for them.

i am planning on getting my np some day, and i also wish to become a woman's health np :) that is awhile away yet :)

there are some religious reasons why some women choose not to have an iud. an iud allows for conception to take place and it may even allow for implantation, but it does not allow the embryo to get very far (should it implant at all) and it's either expelled or reabsorbed.

if you are of a religion that believes that life begins at conception, then an iud is not going to be acceptable.

other methods of birth control that are hormonal, conception is not possible because of the condition of the ovum if it gets released at all.

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Specializes in ED.
Another thing I also wanted to add to what I said earlier is, perhaps a little cliche but I think it holds true, that it doesn't always matter how much time you have to spend with someone but the quality of time you spend with them. !Chris :specs:

I agree with Chris & think this also may be relevant in the context of preparing yourself for your transition into nursing. One of my first clinical instructors in nursing school, Jackie, said, "If you give yourself the opportunity to really focus on your skills in clinicals, you will find that your transition into nursing will include much more critical thinking and much less discombobulation and/or cognitive dissonance."

She recognized that working full time as a paramedic while in school was affecting my potential to learn more and exceed what was expected of me in nursing school. My context was about making the grade while giving my best to my livelihood. So, as long as I was pulling A's I figured I was good to go. She asked me why I wanted to be a nurse when it was clear that my commitment was to being a paramedic. For the sake of contrast, my job was my baby.

This of course was not what I wanted to hear at the time. I actually asked her if she was going to pay my bills so I could "exceed what was expected of me." I wouldn't recommend this attitude! Anyway, the reason I mention it is because I think it demonstrates that I really hadn't considered other options and didn't appreciate what I felt to be an erroneous judgment on her part (based on my grades).

I soon realized that Jackie wasn't insulting me; she was challenging me to raise the bar for myself so I would be more prepared for what was ahead of me in my career. It motivated me to re-evaluate my priorities. The next semester I received a scholarship and resigned my job. This was not easy to do but turned out to be the right decision for me.

I know I said this before and I'm saying it again... If it is possible to give your best to yourself and your learning process during clinicals and nursing school, both you and your patients will benefit. Your transition into nursing will entail much less attention to skills and tasks, and much more attention to thinking critically for your patients. Not all nursing students have this ideal option. If you have the option to increase the quality of time spent with your family and school, please consider it a gift. I will never regret giving my best to clinicals. I know it made a difference for me.

Again, I'm excited & send hugs regardless of what you choose. :icon_hug:

Here is an article about new grad to nurse transitions you may find interesting...

The Process of Becoming.pdf

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just to give you some encouragement ,I was in clinicals when I delivered I got out of clinical friday delivered saturday and went back to shool monday(clinical) .Other then being called crazy it was not bad at all I was tired all the time because my newborn never slept and i had 2 other children 4 and 6 , but i did not want to miss a semester, now im done and I think the hard work was completley worth it .It just depends on you,ther was 4 of us who got pregnant during school and I was the only one who made it through ,I never let myself think that could take time off.trust me there were times at clinical when I was puking and dizzy and had to go clean up a massive code brown, I was ready to walk out the door .Just dont give up and believe in yourself. my best advice would be take it one day at a time you can do it !

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Can you do it? sure. Would I do it? Not a chance in heck. Not because it is a physical risk, but because that time is so special with your child, and it is the time in your life when you first get to bond with this beautiful new being that you created. I don't think a year off to spend with a new baby is a bad thing AT ALL.

My experience? I had my son 14 years ago and at that time, just wanted to have life continue as it had (but +1 baby). I was so busy "living" that things he did and things that happened were overlooked or seen as an annoyance. I could never give him my full attention and just enjoy his being with me because there was always something else that I HAD to do. I thought I was being a good parent, I was going to school (although it was not a strenuous program like nursing what so ever), and I was "taking care of my family".

Fastforward 10 years... I had my 2nd child (and my 3rd 2 years later). I stayed home with them until I started nursing school this fall (with a 3 yr old and a 1 yr old). I have such an immensely tight bond with my two little girls that I NEVER had (or have) with my now teenage son. When he used to cry, I would go through the motions to figure out what was wrong (diaper?/hunger?/pain?/ect) and eventually to the doctor's, swap formulas around, ect ect. Now? When my girls cry I *KNOW* whats wrong with them 99% of the time, because of all the time I spent with them. When they are sad they don't just cry, they run to mommy.

Perhaps this seems a bit too emotional or ridiculous, but with all my heart, I can tell you that I really feel that being able to spend time with your little ones in that first year is SO SO SO important. I thought differently at one point, and I would give all the world to go back and do things differently now.

Nursing school is not like taking a couple of gen ed classes a week. Its so time intensive that there WILL be times where you have to just hand a crying baby to someone else and walk away, when you could soothe them better than anyone. And you will remember the frustrations of balancing both when you think of your first year together, as opposed to bonding with your beautiful new baby.

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Just my own personal thoughts on this...I am currently pregnant with my sixth child. Our other children are 7,5,4,2, and 1. Both my husband and I are employed by one of our local hospitals-night shift as techs...we work opposite days of the week so we don't have to find babysitting. We are also both in school. I will be entering my second semester of a 4-semester adn program in two weeks and he will be pursuing EMT/paramedic. I am actually set to deliver 2 weeks before spring break, though I think it will be sooner...Is our life difficult? Heck yeah, it is! Is it and will it be worth it in the end? ABSOLUTELY. We are doing this for them! The only thing I am cutting out is work this semester, and I felt that student loans could be used to make up for my income....Payback's a #%^$ but I will be in a position to pay back loans in 16 months and 1 week! You just have to stay strong and realize what you are working toward. You never know what (or who *wink*) life will throw at you and it makes no sense to put everything on hold until the 'timing is good'.....And really...who can better pay for the tickets to Elmo Live for that toddler? A nursing student or a Nurse?! *grin*

Off the Eternally Pregnant and Crazy Soapbox....

Shan

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I delayed my start into the RN program as I was due 3 weeks after classes started. I ended up being almost two weeks late, and though I had an easy delivery (first baby) I don't think I could have done what I've seen other posters report. I had my daughter on a Monday evening and I had a online class paper due on the following Sunday. I had been working ahead in the class, but there were still online discussions I missed out on. I did the work, but I know it wasn't very good; I got a B in the class, not the A I know I should and could have received. I got a medical defferment for the last semester and I start in three weeks.

I also knew how strict the school was. The professor of my nursing prep class told us that if we are "late even by 5 minutes to the floor, three times, we would fail clinicals. Fail clinicals, fail the class. No absences, no exceptions. Have kids? Or an inflexible work schedule? Take the semester to make other arrangements- there will be no leaving early or arriving late." I couldn't take the chance that I would deliver on a weekday or have a complicated delivery or a c-section barring me from making a class.

I also needed these last few months to be with my daughter. I am breastfeeding (it was very important to me) and as hard as the first week of BFing was in and of itself, no way could I have gone to school at the same time. I am glad that I waited. Childcare was a major factor as well.

Good luck. I know it's a tough decision, but if this is your first baby, I'll tell you what the RN program director told me "Go home, enjoy your baby, take care of yourself, and get ready for next semester."

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In the second semester of my first year I went into labor about a week before finals. I took one final on time and the other a week later. Both my clinical instructors allowed me to make up extra clinical days early, just in case I went into pre-term labor. My situation is like the exact opposite of yours (in a way). I think its doable, but its going to be stressful. I guarantee you that it will not be a walk in park, but you could definitely swing it. This was my pregnancy with my second daughter, so I knew how important it was to finish school, on time and with no delays.

Good Luck!

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