I just found out last week that I am 12 weeks pregnant. The issue is, I just transferred last October to a new department within the same hospital that I have been working for the last two years, so my probation period will not be over until April (by then I will be about 21 weeks pregnant). Expected due date will be at the end of August.
I am debating whether I should tell my manager now or if I should wait until my probation period is over?
Many people have been telling me to wait, however I do not want my manager to feel like I was hiding something all this time, yet I do not want this pregnancy to affect my evaluation in any way at the end of my probation period.
I have received positive feedback from coworkers regarding my performance, but nothing in writing.
I was in an almost identical situation (it's almost uncanny how similar our situations are) and posted about it here
I asked the same questions you have. I actually posted this update on page 2, but here's what I ended up doing (copy and pasted from the post I linked to):
I let my nurse manager know about my pregnancy very shortly after posting this thread, I was still in my first trimester. I let her know I was strongly committed to my position, I intended to work until delivery, and return full time from maternity leave. Her response was nothing short of amazing. She was kind, understanding, and made me feel at ease.
From that point, I just worked like normal. I didn't hide my pregnancy but also didn't advertise it. As my coworkers learned I was pregnant, I am so relieved to say not one person seemed to bat an eye to it (other than offer me congratulations). I worked up until the week before my baby was born.
I took the full amount of maternity leave my employer/state allowed and returned full time as I had intended. I couldn't be more happy about my position and returning to work went great. Not one single person made me feel guilty or bad about how everything transpired and I am so proud to be a nurse on my unit.
If you do come across this thread and have questions because you find yourself in a similar spot, don't hesitate to reach out to me. I'd be more than happy to talk more about my experience.
I work on labor and delivery and a) we have a lot of young female nurses so at any given time at least three-four are pregnant (often six or more) and b) we all tend to get VERY excited about the whole thing. I haven’t witnessed or heard about one iota of discrimination, though I suppose it could affect training slightly. (I.e. I’m not going to give you triage training in your last trimester because you won’t have time to get good practice before you’re off for months).
I told my manager at 10 weeks, when I had a suspected miscarriage during my shift. I was working home health, and my client couldn't be left alone, so I had to wait 90 minutes for someone to relieve me.
I think you should wait to reveal until you need accommodations. I was pregnant with twins, and I needed accommodations, mostly for lifting, around 20 weeks. I worked until 34 weeks and had my babies at 35 weeks.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
On 2/15/2019 at 12:02 PM, smiley28 said:
Hi everyone,
I just found out last week that I am 12 weeks pregnant. The issue is, I just transferred last October to a new department within the same hospital that I have been working for the last two years, so my probation period will not be over until April (by then I will be about 21 weeks pregnant). Expected due date will be at the end of August.
I am debating whether I should tell my manager now or if I should wait until my probation period is over?
Many people have been telling me to wait, however I do not want my manager to feel like I was hiding something all this time, yet I do not want this pregnancy to affect my evaluation in any way at the end of my probation period.
I have received positive feedback from coworkers regarding my performance, but nothing in writing.
Thanks
Congratulations on your pregnancy.
First, I'd try to nail down the feedback in writing. Ask for a review. You are halfway through your probationary period, so you should normally be getting a review about this time -- early enough to alert you to any problems in your practice so that you can change course and fix them before they become serious enough to threaten your job at the end of your probation. It's nice to know what you're doing right, too, so you can keep doing it!
Your instinct that you don't want your manager to think you've been hiding something is a good one. Especially now that you've told others about your pregnancy. Word travels quickly, and you don't want your manager to find out from anyone other than you. Managers need time to plan for how they're going to cover your maternity leave.
You've been at the same hospital for two years, and you've managed to get good enough reviews that you were allowed to transfer. I'd say you're probably in good shape.
R5RN, BSN, RN, EMT-P
29 Posts
I was in an almost identical situation (it's almost uncanny how similar our situations are) and posted about it here
I asked the same questions you have. I actually posted this update on page 2, but here's what I ended up doing (copy and pasted from the post I linked to):
I let my nurse manager know about my pregnancy very shortly after posting this thread, I was still in my first trimester. I let her know I was strongly committed to my position, I intended to work until delivery, and return full time from maternity leave. Her response was nothing short of amazing. She was kind, understanding, and made me feel at ease.
From that point, I just worked like normal. I didn't hide my pregnancy but also didn't advertise it. As my coworkers learned I was pregnant, I am so relieved to say not one person seemed to bat an eye to it (other than offer me congratulations). I worked up until the week before my baby was born.
I took the full amount of maternity leave my employer/state allowed and returned full time as I had intended. I couldn't be more happy about my position and returning to work went great. Not one single person made me feel guilty or bad about how everything transpired and I am so proud to be a nurse on my unit.
If you do come across this thread and have questions because you find yourself in a similar spot, don't hesitate to reach out to me. I'd be more than happy to talk more about my experience.