Telling an employer about pregnancy

[AFwife727, BSN, RN]

I had an interview the other day for a doctor's office. I think it went pretty well and the lady (nursing director) seemed impressed with me but I really do not want to jump to conclusions or get my hopes up. Because I've gone on a LOT of interviews and have not gotten THE coveted first RN job yet. Obviously. But I really believe that this place and work environment is it for me and that I could thrive there.

With that being said, I have a dilemma. I am 17 weeks pregnant with my second child. If I were to receive a job offer from this practice (hypothetically speaking, of course!), should I tell them right then, over the phone, about my pregnancy? Or should I wait a few weeks before telling them? I am not really showing yet. I am a very honest person. I don't want them to think that I deceived them. But at the same time, I don't want to lose my job offer, IF they did end up offering me a position. Legally, they CAN rescind an offer. I honestly felt bad during the interview, not telling them. But really, the fact that I'm pregnant does not have anything to do with my professional life nor does it affect my work ethic. Until I deliver, of course. With my last pregnancy, I worked in the hospital (clinicals AND my nurse tech job) right up until I had the baby! If anyone has any thoughts or advice, I'd really appreciate it! :)

[adjappleton]

I was in the identical situation. Most likely by law you do not have to disclose this information (in my state of Wisconsin I didn't). For one potential job offer I hid it, and for another I disclosed during the interview. This was based totally on my instincts and my impression of the hiring manager (bad and good respectively). For the one I disclosed, I said the same thing as you, that i worked up until my previous delivery, etc. and fully planned on returning to work after appropriate leave. When I was looking for advice on the topic, the thing that made most sense to me was "Do you really want to work somewhere where they don't like to hire pregnant people/mothers?" Good luck!

[AFwife727, BSN, RN]

Thank you for your words of advice! You had some good points. I think I'm going to inform them if I receive an offer. If they don't like it, then they may not be very supportive after all.