Pregnancy and nursing

NurseEmmy · Aug 13, 2015

You need to talk with the school. If you are starting in Jan, and due in Feb, you are going to have problems. When I was in LPN school we had a girl that delivered and HAD to come to class the next day for a final. No exceptions were going to be made for her. I would think about that. Perhaps try again if the program is offered in the fall? What if you have to go on bedrest and cannot attend class? I know it is a tough decision, but you need to be honest with yourself. You might be the kind of person who can go to class within 24hrs of delivering a baby. Frankly I'd rather not have to make that choice.

111th, ADN, LPN · Aug 14, 2015

Is this your first child? Do you have reliable child care set up?

I personally wouldn't be able to do it. Nursing programs are hard and stressful. I did not find the coursework difficult to understand, but in my program anything under an 80% was failing and we had multiple tests that we HAD to score 100% on or we were out. We also could only miss two classes total or we were out. That is so stressful and I couldn't imagine having a newborn to nurse and be up all night with too. I recently had my first baby and I was so thankful to have the 12 weeks to just sit at home and bond with her. At both my LPN and ADN Bridge orientations, I was told that we needed to have no distractions in order to be successful and that we would need to let our families know that we would be MIA for the next year.

It's a personal decision that only you can make. I wish you luck! Congratulations on the baby!

rpsychnurse · Aug 14, 2015

One concern I would have is whether or not you will be able to take time off for the delivery/recovery. Many nursing schools have strict policies regarding absences and you may run into a problem. I would talk to the school about your pregnancy now and try and work something out. Otherwise it may be a good idea to delay your start by a semester. Congrats on both the pregnancy and on starting your nursing career! Good luck!

OrganizedChaos, LVN · Aug 14, 2015

Do you have any health issues? Are you on any medications? Even if you aren't anything can happen during pregnancy. I went into labor early & was put on bed rest.

You need to talk to your school & see what will happen being so far along.

SayRPN · Aug 14, 2015

No medications and that's what I've been hearing but I still feel like I can't give up going to school. I feel confident in myself that I'll be able to do it but yes what all of you are saying does make sense. And yes the delivery/recovery could end up being a long process. I will call the school and ask to confirm. Thanks guys SOO much. I really do appreciate all your guys' input! :)

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 14, 2015

Three of my nursing school classmates were pregnant during the program. Two of these women gave birth and returned to school a few days later, whereas one never returned after delivering her baby. Your mileage may vary.

mrsboots87 · Aug 14, 2015

What is not being mentioned here is clinical. When will you start that? In order to attend clinical you will have to obtain clearance from your OB. Most credible doctors will not clear you for clinical requirements for at least a couple weeks. And every person an pregnancy is different. You may get lucky and spring right back and be ready a few days after delivery and never look back. You could also have delivery complications such as 4 inch episiotomy, an emergency c section, an issue with the baby (God forbid), hemorrhage, and so on. These are not common occurrences so I am not trying to frighten you about your upcoming delivery, but they do happen.

As for a personal story. For my first child I developed sciatica in the middle of third trimester. My little turd head went head down early and head butted that nerve for a months. I could barely walk without getting shooting pains from my left butt cheek to my left knew. She was a rather rapid delivery due to complications toward the end of labor so healing (down there) was not pleasant. I was definitely not able to walk or lit for about 3-4 weeks and then I slowly got better over the next several weeks. Had I been in a nursing program, I would have failed. Baby actually was fantastic. Slept great, great feeding schedule, not very fussy. I totally could have started a program if I wasnt so messed up. Second pregnancy. Was a breeze compared to the first. Until I hit the end of second trimester. Then I developed SPD. If you don't know what that is yet, it basically feels like your crotch is exploding all the time. The symphasis pubis stretches too much and hurts. BAD. Could barely move in bed let alone walk without severe crotch pain. So again, definitely would not have been able to start a program. BUT, after her delivery I was on my feet and taking my daughter to the park the day after discharge. Healed much better and totally could have gone to school about a week after delivery. Then there is my sister in law. She is the pregnant woman that other pregnant ladies love to hate. She barely got sick. Ran a marathon while pregnant. Continued to work out for most of the pregnancy (safe workouts only of course). Had a terrible 3 day labor and 4 hour delivery. But she was up and at it within a week or 2 of delivery. Easy pregnancy and relatively easy recovery.

So basically, you just don't know what youre going to get. You may get to have a smooth end of pregnancy, or it may be rough. You may have quick recovery, or be barely walking for a month. You just won't know. No matter your health before pregnancy, all kinds of things can happen.

The real question here is do you want to risk your tuition money? That is the real question. If you leave for medical reasons, most schools are understanding and can get you accepted for the following semester. So you really arent losing anything acceptance wise if you have to withdraw for whatever reason. What you may lose is the tuition if you have to withdraw.

Seattlemamalama · Aug 14, 2015

I honestly depends on you. If this is your first pregnancy you might not know what your capable of, which could be a good thing or a bad thing. I start the 2 year BSN program at my university next month and I'm due on thanksgiving. This is my third child. In three years lol.

Recovery depends on the birth. My first recovery sucked. My second was amazing, I could do squats within the week. And I tore both time too. I'm not trying to praise myself as super strong, in a huge baby. I'll cry if I scrape my knee. But honestly I was surprised that labor was actually not that bad and scary as I had expected.

Dont let people scare you.

It is a sacrifice to leave your first child though. I'm not sure if I could have done it with my first. However, now that I know the process of babies fairly well I don't mind leaving my newborn to go to school.

The decision or not to continue on is up to you.

And as a side note, school would be sooooo much easier with just 1 baby and not 2, 3 or 5 kids. And... The younger they are the less they remember. There is no way they will hold it against you for being in class or at clinical.

P.s.

Sorry about the typos and grammatical errors. It's late at night, im typing on my phone and my screen is cracked due to precious baby #1.

augurey · Aug 15, 2015

I absolutely agree with talking to your school. You need to know what is expected of you in regards to your pregnancy. It sounds like some schools are more lenient and is more flexible where others might say there are no exceptions. Where does your school stand on this?

Pregnancy in school really depends on the individual; your health, baby's health, complications, recovery, etc.

I was in early pregnancy when I applied to my program. Before I made the decision to do so, I let them know I was pregnant and asked if this would be an issue as I'd be due a month into the semester. She said to still apply as the instructors will work with me.

If you are going to continue, you need to find out what their expectations are of you and how it's going to be handled when you need to miss class/clinicals and about their make up policy.

I've already talked to both lecture/lab instructors and the chair of the program. They are very kindly going to work with me as long as everything is reasonable (recovery and time off needed). Once things happen, I just need to let them know either by phone call or email and then keep them updated. They couldn't really give me much information about test/assignment make up as there's no predicting what's going to happen (like if I need a c section - something also to keep in mind). They are fine with me making up labs and clinicals, but obviously there will have to be a limit to what I can make up as if I miss too much, it may just be impossible to make up what I need to in order to move forward in the program.

I feel fortunate that they are very willing to work with me, especially if I have to be out more than the 1 week I'm hoping to be out for.

The absolute worst case scenario is that I would have to withdraw. I was advised that this would not be counted against me for re-enrollment as it's a medical withdraw. It'll, unfortunately, be a waste of tuition for us if it comes down to that, but with our current circumstances, it's the chance we have to take.

That's something else you would need to find out their policy on re-admittance if you have to withdraw for health related reasons as well as how you feel about the tuition money already spent.

Wishing you the best of luck and congratulations!

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Aug 16, 2015

I delivered my daughter by c-section during the Christmas break, which was fortuitous timing. As it was, I still took a semester off and came back in the fall. I cannot imagine starting a January program knowing I'm due in February. Clearly, though, as others have related, it can be done IF all the stars align perfectly.