Pregnant during clinicals - Would you switch rotations if you could?

[elle_RN]

I am scheduled to start my pediatric rotation in late February. I will be 13 weeks pregnant and clinical will end when I am 20 weeks. I'm not sure how other schools are, but our class is split into thirds and we are randomly assigned to 7 week rotations of either med-surg, peds, or L&D. Whichever clinical I don't do this semester I will take next fall (in what order I don't know) when I have a newborn.

There is another pregnant women in my class and she is due around April, I think. She was assigned med-surg but petitioned the dean to switch because she didn't want to be exposed to anything. She had to find someone willing to switch with her and then was able to change to L&D. Should I attempt to do the same? This is complicated by the fact that my clinical location/time was already changed because of an unrelated reason, and I don't want the person I switched with to be forced to change back. She'll lose her job. However, it's possible that at least some of the people assigned to L&D will be forced to sit a semester out because of academic probation. I would hopefully be able to take their empty place and the person I already switched with could keep her placement. One of the L&D rotations is even at the same location my pediatrics is, but I have no idea if there is a spot open there.

This was a BIG surprise. As in, I have to call and cancel my IUD insertion appointment scheduled this month. I'm embarassed to be pregnant unexpectedly and I'm nervous to contact the clinical organizer. She is not a nursing instructor and can be pretty harsh. But I also want to do participate fully in clinical and have a healthy baby. I am due in early September but due to a history of premature labor I will probably give birth sometime in August. I started my pre-reqs when my daughter was 2 weeks old, my son was born in the middle of my last semester of prereqs, and I started nursing school when my son was 6 months old, so I'm used to going to school full time with babies but clinicals is a different story. I am able to go half time this semester, because I took classes early (so glad now!) so I will just have the clinical and the acute care lecture. Next fall however I have 12 required credits if I stay in the full-time program as planned. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

I also exclusively breastfeed my kids and I'm a pumping pro, but I don't know how to handle that while at clinical next semester. Any tips for that would be great!

I posted this in another forum but I think this is actually the right place for this. Thank you. :nuke:

[Work in Progress]

Well, only you can decide what is going to work for you and your situation is a bit different than mine. I did, however, complete my Med/Surg 1 rotation between weeks 16 and 20 of my pregnancy as well as working full time as a CNA at the hospital. My clinical instructor and preceptors were very understanding of what I could and could not do in the clinical setting and really watched out for me. I managed to learn a lot and the only thing I encountered that I didn't do was taking care of a meningitis patient. I will be 28 weeks to 34 weeks pregnant and doing my pediatric and L&D rotations simultaneously. My instructors are once again supportive of my situation.

I know every school and situation is different, but the message I got from my advisor and all of my instructors is that it is possible to complete clinicals and school while pregnant and having a newborn. The thing I try to remember is that there are many nurses who do their jobs while pregnant and with young children. There have also been many nursing students that have had children during school and been successful at both. I think the key is being open and honest with instructors and preceptors and doing more than your fair share of the things that you are not restricted on so that people don't mind helping you out with things you can't be doing. Try to stay positive! We can both do it!

[elle_RN]

Thank you very much :) It really helps to know that someone else has been through this. When I heard that the only other pregnant woman in my program had actually gone to the dean to switch I felt like maybe I should too. On the other hand this is a pretty big program and we can't possibly be the only women who have ever been pregnant during clinicals.

I really like my clinical placement (it's the closest to my home) and I think smaller patients would actually be helpful because I have back pain when pregnant. Unless my instructor doesn't want me in her clinical I'm pretty sure I can do it. My titres are all really high and I'll be as careful as I can be.

If I don't hear back from my clinical instructor I'm going to contact an advisor I'm friendly with. She can point me in the right direction.

Thank you again!