Pregnancy and Nursing School

Teebee5 · Aug 22, 2009

I appluade anyone who is pregnant during school, but you have to understand that it is hard work being pregnant and then having a baby.

I have a 3 year old at home, and I have been on this path towards nursing for before she was concived. I cannot imagine being pregnant while at school or with a newborn. I know it is done all the time, but what is the impact to you and your family.

School is going to be hard work, and is it fair to yourself and baby, to be stressed, emotional (lets face it there is tones of hormones), not to mention sleep deprived??? What about regret you might face after you graduate??? You might regret missing out on the firsts, especially since this is your first child.

IS it fair to your family or your studies???

I think you should seriously think about the pro and cons. You are young and if nursing is your goal stick with that first, then have you baby.

Don't want to ruffle any feather just my two cents.

jcox121 · Aug 24, 2009

I am 27 and had 2 children during my pre reqs for nursing. Both were C-sections and I had them on thursdays and was back in class on the Mondays that followed. My sister (22) just had a baby in April, at the end of our fisrt year of school. She only missed one clinical and she made it up on another clinical day. We couldn't be happier and THANK GOD for our mom who now has 3 grandchildren within 3 years. If you have a good support system, you can do it. I must say though, we were both blessed with wonderful pregnancies and babies. No colic, no morning sickness and no bedrest. I hope all goes well with whatever you choose. We are starting our second year. I have a 1 and 2 y.o and her baby is now 4 months. We both took OB and PSYCH over the summer to lighten our fall load. You do what you have to do to get what you want.

jcox121 · Aug 24, 2009

One more thing, I don't know what kind of set-up your school has, but sitting in those little chairs with the half desk connected for 3 hours when your 8/9 mo pregnant is NOT comfortable!! :)

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Aug 24, 2009

Personally, I would wait. I'm 28 and will be 30 when I'm done, and want to be able to pay down some debt first bedore having a baby. I want to be able to take time off to get used to being a mother to limit the stress I'd under. I'm in an accelerated program, so that's another factor, but even if I was in a regular length program I'd wait it out.

My mom had us at 30, 35, and 37 and we are all fine. One of my aunts had her kids at 35, 36, and 39, and the youngest one had to see a speech therapist, which afaik isn't uncommon with kids from young mothers. On the other hand another aunt had a surprise baby at 42 and he is autistic, but high functioning. Her first baby she had when she was in her 20's had anencephaly and died.

You can have healthy and unhealthy babies at any age, and while increased age increases risks, 30 is really not old to be having a baby.

Bobbkat · Aug 24, 2009

I can give you my perspective, from experience, hopefully it helps you make a decision. I entered my first semester of my BSN program about 18(ish) weeks pregnant. I had to submit a physical from my OB saying that I was physically fit to participate in the nursing program, and the faculty made it very clear that I was upheld to all of the same expectations that everyone else was, pregnant or not. I had hyperemesis gravidarum with my pregnancy, and could NOT stop throwing up throughout the whole pregnancy. The only that stopped it at all was Zofran, so I had them constantly with me. I still had to go to the ER about once a week to get IV fluids and something to stop me from vomiting. Luckily, I was always able to hold off until the evening to do this. My clinical instructor was extremely supportive, luckily, as was most of the faculty, in general. I felt rotten, but soldiered on through the semester, did very well in clinical, managed to swing a 3.8 (we HAVE to pass everything with an 80% or above, and out 'A' grades start at 94%, so I made mostly above 94% on everything.) I didn't miss a single day, I admit though, there were times I had to DRAG myself to class.

I was due the end of January, so I opted to not take clinicals for term 2. Instead, I took one class on campus, Pharmacology, and one class online (med ethics). I had class on Tuesdays. I had my daughter (late, hooray!) the 6th week of class, on a Monday, so I missed that weeks class. I had a c-section, and she ended up in the NICU for a week. We finally left the hospital on the following Sunday. I went back to class (on Percocet, which I don't recommend if you are trying to learn about cardiac drugs, lol). Three weeks later I ended up having surgery to remove my gall bladder, which the docs told me was probably triggered by the pregnancy. Luckily, I was only hospitalized over the weekend, so I was back to class that week. All in all I had a newborn and 2 surgeries, but only missed one class the whole semester. Being on percocet for weeks after the surgeries did make studying and focusing a little hard though, so I only got a 'B' in Pharm.

I guess what I am trying to say with this very long post is that it can be done, and your grades don't have to necessarily suffer, but it is by NO means a cakewalk, so judge very carefully. Only you can place priorities on what you need to accomplish right now, and only you can judge whether you are capable of rising to the occasion. However, don't discount the unknown. I didn't expect to throw up for 9 months and require frequent trips to the hospital for fluids. Luckily for me, though this was extremely inconvenient, it didn't prevent me from fullfilling my responsibilities. Other things, like bedrest, can, so be prepared to accept that if it happens. Also, no matter how your pregnancy goes, be prepared to go to school on zero sleep once you have a newborn. If you are lucky, like me, your baby will sleep through the night at 6 weeks. If you are like my best friend however, your baby will NEVER sleep through the night (so it seems).

Good luck with your decision.